


Ghoulish Hero

by ChronoHex



Category: Tokyo Ghoul, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku Friendship, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku are Childhood Friends, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is a Good Friend, Blood, Blood Drinking, Bullying, Don’t need to have watched/read Tokyo Ghoul to enjoy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Evil quirk but good intentions, F/M, Fighting tragic fate, Fluff and Angst, From kids to teens, Ghoul inspired quirk, Inspired by Tokyo Ghoul, Izuku fighting against instincts, Izuku struggling with his quirk, Mental Health Issues, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Mess, Mystery, Not actual crossover, Small references to Tokyo Ghoul characters, Tragedy, cruel world, road to redemption, tragic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 51,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28549524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChronoHex/pseuds/ChronoHex
Summary: Never would Midoriya Izuku have thought a quirk could make becoming a hero harder, strong quirks are supposed to be the key to saving people, aren't they? They gift the heroes the ability to do the right thing and the strength to save people. But when his own quirk finally awakens, Izuku has to come to terms with the fact that not all quirks are equally heroic, and that his newly-acquired power is in actuality a curse that destines him to shed blood in order to survive.As he grows older, he struggles to find a way to deal with the growing instincts that urge him to do the unspeakable. Having only his childhood friend Katsuki on his side, Izuku learns that the world he lives in is more than cruel. In a society that wants nothing to do with those like him, he must keep his sinister cravings in control, or risk losing his future all together.And yet, despite all that, Izuku refuses to have his story end in tragedy. He’s determined to write his own destiny; amazing friends and dangerous enemies are made on his long and arduous path towards vindication, all in hopes of finally becoming the hero he's always wanted to be.The story of the most tragic hero, and the bonds he creates along the way.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Bakugou Mitsuki, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Class 1-A & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko & Midoriya Izuku, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 35
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've cross posted anything on Ao3, so I apologize if I somehow messed up the tags or the summary. 
> 
> **DISCLAIMER:** You do **NOT** need to have watched or read Tokyo Ghoul in order to enjoy this story, see this story as mainly an MHA/BNHA fic with some heavily tweaked TG elements. 
> 
> TG characters will **ONLY** appear as small references and will **NOT** be the same person as from TG canon or play major roles. I’ll be taking a lot of creative liberties from the stuff taken from TG. 
> 
> You might as well consider stuff like Izuku’s quirk as something **original** if you are not familiar with TG to begin with, since it’ll function differently from how it would work in TG anyway, though people that do have prior knowledge will get to see how it differs exactly, which could be interesting in and of itself.
> 
> I just wanted to make that clear to anyone who might be scared off by the fact they haven’t watched/read TG yet, this is an **MHA** fic at heart, with what I consider to be the best parts of TG, mainly being what suddenly transforming into a ghoul does to a person physically and mentally, and how that affects the way society treats them. (In this case a super-powered society!)
> 
> Now, having gotten that disclaimer out of the way, enjoy!

* * *

**Birth of a ~~Monster~~ Hero.**

* * *

_What do I do?_ A young Izuku Midoriya thought, as the classroom around him seemed to slow down and his mind raced for a solution. _What can I do? Kacchan might knock over Misaki-san’s vase on the shelf, he'll be so angry!_

Katsuki had just been showing Izuku his quirk that had developed the past weekend a few moments ago, or that was the case, until the boy had suddenly created a strong explosion in an attempt to show off to his friend. What he hadn't really been expecting however is that the explosion would be stronger than what he’d been bracing himself for, causing him to fall back clumsily.

As luck would have it, they were standing near a shelf rack with a rather large vase, property of one of their teachers; Misaki Korone, who had put the object there for seemingly no reason other than to show off his apparent wealth.

How a teacher could afford such a thing wouldn't be a problem however, if it weren't for the fact the falling toddler had made a rather large collision with the shelf rack. Izuku could see the vase start to wobble in place.

''Ouch… what the...?" Izuku heard his friend mumble, pain clear in his voice as he laid there with his back to the shelf, he must have hurt his head badly considering he the fact he looked rather out of it at the moment. Izuku was about to walk over to him until he looked up and realization hit him.

 _The vase is still moving, i-is it actually gonna fall? From where Kacchan is sitting It might actually fall on his h-head!_ Izuku could feel his body start to move forward as he assessed what was about to happen if he didn't do something. _Th- that vase is actually super heavy isn't it?_ The toddler could vaguely remember his teachers, Misaki-san and Teruko-san (reluctantly) assisting and still having trouble actually lifting the vase on the shelf, Teruko had actually protested against putting such a heavy object on an elevated spot in the presence of toddlers. But the older man had insisted on putting it there, trying to justify the decision by saying some farce like _'Kids these days need to be surrounded more by art'_ to the chagrin of Teruko. Misaki was truly a show off.

Izuku didn't know the math, but if two grown men had trouble lifting it, then the weight would be beyond something a toddler could possibly endure having dropped on his head. And the dread that was starting to grow in his stomach intensified.

As if the object was planning on taking him up on his musings, Izuku could see the vase starting to tip over. In a haste Izuku called out to his friend. ''Kacchan get away from there, it's dangerous! The vase is gonna fall!''

His warning seemed to be in vain however as Katsuki barely looked as if he had heard him, instead he just responded with a confused look, his hand feeling at the back of his head with a wince. Had he really knocked his head that hard?

Izuku realized one thing in that moment. _Kacchan can't get up! He's actually gonna get hit if I don't do something about it, but… what can I even do? I don’t even have a qui—_

''Izuku…?''

Izuku froze, broken out of the train wreck that were his growing insecurities as he looked at his friend. The blonde looked confused, concerned, but most important of all, scared. And to his fright, the vase started falling.

''NO!''

Before he could think, Izuku leaped forward with a hard shout that sounded throughout the whole class but was surprisingly drowned out by the sound of the other kids playing.

Setting off in a speed and strength that should not be feasible for a four year old still quirkless child. He flew at his friend, his actions only catching up with him now as he was covering the other boy with his body. He knew there was only one thing he could do if he wanted to save his friend from the most likely fatal injury.

He would have take the brunt of the hit himself.

He had less than a second to brace himself for the incoming pain. As he looked at Katsuki’s bewildered and frightened face, he could only hear himself mutter softly.

''Don't worry, I'm here''

A deafening shatter followed, and he felt a numb pain.

Then, the world went black.

* * *

_What the heck... just happened?_

Katsuki Bakugou knew for a fact he had been showing Izuku his quirk he got yesterday not more than a minute ago.

When he had entered class the first thing on his mind had been to tell his friend about the new development, he'd been so ecstatic to the point he'd considered just going to his house yesterday to tell him the news. But it had been late by the time he’d returned from the quirk doctor and he'd decided it would be better to surprise him in class, and surprised he was.

He had nearly matched Katsuki in his eccentricities and it hadn't even been his quirk that had developed. He hadn't hesitated to instantly ask him about the details and what he could do with it and had started theorizing before he could even begin showing him _._

 _Izukun can be such a nerd._ He'd thought lightheartedly. Katsuki was one of the few that could tolerate and understand the green mop's ramblings. Most of the time.

When lunch break arrived they'd quickly moved to the corner of the class where the shelves are. Kids don't play as much there so they immediately got to it. However, when he started to demonstrate his quirk he had quickly gotten ahead of himself.

After showing Izuku the basic sparks he could create he had wanted to impress him more, so he decided to up the power of his quirk.

They'd already theorized that his quirk had something to do with his sweat since his father had that type of quirk, and the sweat on his hands had smelled differently.

So he tried to rub his hands together to increase the warmth; It was a party trick his father used sometimes to create firework-like explosions in his hand. Katsuki hoped it would increase the size of his own sparks.

Izuku instantly picked up on what he had been doing however.

"K-kacchan is that really a good idea?" He said, slight apprehension apparent in his voice.

Katsuki paid him no mind as he continued rubbing his hands. "Jeez Izukun, of course it is, don't worry too much. It's not like I'll blow us all up, I just got it yesterday,"

"Even then, we don't know how strong it'll be… you might hurt yourself." Izuku was sure it was a bad idea.

Katsuki would just have to prove him wrong then.

"Well ready or not, here it comes!" He said excitedly as he lifted his hands up, palms facing away from him and the green haired toddler. Izuku looked like he wanted to say something but finally realized he wouldn't be able to convince Katsuki at this point. He could only observe.

That's where everything went wrong.

The blast that was created when he ignited his hands had been much larger and intense than both of them had been expecting, Izuku subconsciously stepped back in his panic while Katsuki could feel himself losing balance.

The recoil had been so large it was enough to push him back, he tried to regain his footing but doing so only delayed the inevitable fall.

**SLAM**

Katsuki was positive he could see stars, it felt like he'd crashed into something but he couldn't be sure at this point. Everything seemed hazy and he could feel a pulsating pain shooting through his hands and the back of his head.

"Ouch… what the hell?"

Then he heard a voice. "Kacchan… there… erous… vase… fall!''

 _That's Izukun isn't it?_ _What is he saying?_

Katsuki was really feeling out of it, he tried to feel where the pain on his head was coming from but winced when he touched the spot, it really hurt.

So instead he decided to try to look where Izuku's voice came from, he was a few meters away by now, but he looked extremely worried and even scared?

_What is he looking scared for? I'm the one who hit my head. Although he did warn me for it…_

He decided to call out to him.

"Izuku…?" He'd managed to stammer out, not using his nickname in a daze, he doubted his friend had heard it but to his surprise the boy's head snapped up instead, looking at something above him.

Katsuki couldn't really see his friend's face properly but he could've sworn something about his face was off, maybe it was his eyes?

He couldn't think too much about it as he suddenly heard a shout, Izuku was jumping at him at a really fast speed.

_Wh-what is happening?_

Izuku was slumped over him now as if covering him, and suddenly Katsuki could feel his senses return to him.

"Don't worry, I'm here" Izuku had softly muttered. And as Katsuki looked up at his friend he recognized the inconsistency he thought he'd seen just now; Izuku's eyes were different. The sclera weren't white but a scarlet black, and his pupils an eerie crimson.

Was his disoriented brain playing tricks on him?

Even though this sight should've terrified Katsuki, it hadn't. He wouldn't be scared of him, he'd known him for practically his whole (admittedly short) life and knew he would never hurt anyon—

**_BAM_ **

Katsuki was ripped out of his thoughts, as an ear deafening shatter echoed throughout the class and the hallways, he subconsciously clenched his eyes shut as the sound echoed through the now silent classroom.

And there he sat now, paralyzed in shock as he was recalling what had just happened in not more than 10 seconds, in an attempt to piece together what the hell had just transpired. After having shut his eyes for a moment, he finally opened them, and he could feel his heart nearly stop.

On top of him was an unconscious Izuku while around him were thick shattered pieces of what seemed to be a vase, _Misaki's vase_. He realized. He looked around and saw a crowd of their classmates starting to group around them like a flock of birds.

 _like the extra's they are._ He thought spitingly.

Their teachers were trying to worm their way through the class as they came running through the door.

After taking in his surroundings some more with regained clarity, it finally struck Katsuki.

_Izukun…_

_He protected me from the falling vase by taking the hit himself._

Katsuki could feel the tears form in his eyes as his heart clenched. _He even warned me about it, he just jumped in without a care for his own safety. And now, n-now he mi-might be…_

Katsuki shook the thought out of his head, thinking about it made him feel like he would choke. He could tell the teachers were making it through the classroom, one considerably faster than the other.

He finally found it in him to speak. "Izukun, wake up. Izuku, come on. Please Izuku!" He tried shaking his friend in an attempt to wake him up and noticed his own hands had been burnt rather badly, he ignored the painful sting the contact caused him and kept calling his friend's name.

"What the fuck happened here!" Katsuki looked up and noticed a teacher finally making his way through the ring of kids that had surrounded them, when he got closer Katsuki could see who it was.

It was Misaki.

He'd wormed himself through the crowd of children roughly, which explained how he'd managed to get through the crowd at such speed while the other teacher—who Katsuki only now recognized as Teruko—was trailing behind making sure to tread more carefully.

Misaki really did not care at all if he were to step on a child, and couldn't be bothered to keep his vocabulary appropriate in the presence of toddlers. He was absolutely furious, it was clear on his face that he was planning on directing that fury at whatever thing caused this chaos.

As he finally made it through the human blockade, he took a moment to take in the scene. When he laid his eyes on the shards scattered over the floor, Katsuki knew without a doubt: the man was going to explode.

''YOU FUCKING BRATS!''

* * *

Teruko Eboro was becoming increasingly worried as he carefully passed through the huge swarm of children, he absently noted kids from other classes had gathered as well for some reason, and made a note to himself to send them away later.

That wasn't his main concern however, Misaki has always had temper problems; even the most minute thing could send him off the rails on bad days. And as luck would have it, today was one of those bad days, the teacher didn't know what had caused the man to have such a short temper, but then again none of the teachers really knew much about the man.

He had one day just showed up, the principal had introduced him as if it were any other teacher.

This in itself wouldn't have been very out of place if it weren't for the fact the man had looked so old, he definitely didn't look like a freshly graduated college student ready to become a teacher.

And he was definitely not a transfer teacher from another school, they simply didn't require one and the process of transferring would require the input of multiple other teachers.

In the end there wasn't much that could've been done about it, even if it seemed a little fishy they could at least trust the principal enough to not doubt his decisions.

Slowly but surely however the suspicions grew and Misaki Korone became more and more of an enigma. Teruko could not figure the man out at all, not only was he apparently 43 years old—a little too old for a starting teacher. He was also questionably wealthy, _very_ wealthy, evident by the expensive clothing and accessories he seemed to always wear.

Where he got the money from, no one knew.

Most importantly was that he was definitely _not_ an experienced teacher and may not even have had any formal education for teaching, _and_ he was extremely anti-social to boot, constantly keeping everyone at a distance.

The only person he has ever seen the man commonly have a conversation with is the principal, and even then it didn't particularly seem like any of the two were enjoying the others presence.

Teruko had tried to interact with the man many times considering they were supposed to teach this class together and he never actually learned what his quirk was, but be it by simply ignoring him or outright avoiding him Misaki had made it very obvious he would rather not have to associate with his colleague more than work required them to.

Even then Teruko had to put 'work' lightly when it came to Misaki, because the man honestly didn't do much. Other than bringing in one of his expensive decorations or objects (for no apparent reason) into the class on occasions the man really only stood around, he would sometimes help a kid with math when forced or whatever but that was mostly the extent of what Teruko could expect of the mysterious man.

And as time went on it became harder and harder to believe the man even wanted to be a teacher. Of course he had tried to bring this up to the principal but he had simply waved him off.

' _He simply still has to get used to the environment, don't be too strict on him Eboro-san, do not forget, he is still technically your senior._ ' He had said.

Teruko had really wanted to heatedly point out how it was very obvious that Misaki was not a more experienced teacher than him and that the man couldn't teach for _shit_ , but decided it best for both his sanity and the integrity of his job if he just left the office silently.

If Teruko had to give his own opinion on the man he'd have to say he rather disliked him and that he gave him a bad vibe, there was just something about Misaki that unsettled him. Even if he were to ignore the mysterious manner the man had joined this school the man just gave off an ominous aura that was hard to describe.

It felt like a bomb of sorts, the man regularly came in with a bad mood in which he would snap at anyone who dared to annoy him, even the kids.

Maybe it had something to do with his quirk?

''What the fuck happened here!''

This had Teruko rather concerned for what would happen now, he had no idea what had caused that shattering sound but from where the kids had swarmed he could make a good assumption.

_It would have to be Misaki's damned vase. I just hope no kid got hurt because of that moron's need to show off, or I'll seriously get tempted to show that douche what my fist feels like, especially for being so fucking vulgar in front of the kids._

He could feel a righteous fury start to flare, and his hands start to tingle violently.

''YOU FUCKING BRATS!''

That was the last straw, Teruko hurried to get to his damned colleague before the dunce did something he'd make him regret.

* * *

Katsuki was starting to panic, he was now holding Izuku in his arms while trying to keep his hands from receiving any kind off pressure since it hurt a lot. What was the cause of his feelings of distress was the man now standing in front of him, it was Misaki, and he looked positively _pissed_.

Katsuki had made a hobby of pestering him in the past for a while, Izuku had told him the new teacher gave him the creeps a week after the guy had arrived but he'd eventually decided to see it for himself.

Despite his best efforts however he never got much more than an annoyed mutter or a malicious scowl out of the man. Normally this wouldn't deter Katsuki from going until he managed to really get under an adult’s skin, but for this guy something told him it would be better to stop.

Not for any particular reason other than listening to his gut instinct, he _really_ gave him bad vibes.

Like he was constantly observing everything with those unsettling eyes, but not in a way a teacher should, more like a butcher checking on his farm animals, seeing which are good for 'harvest'.

He always shuddered at that thought, his imagination scared him sometimes.

What was happening now sadly was not his imagination, Misaki stood in front of him while _very_ real.

Somehow Teruko still hadn't arrived, he had hoped the only sensible adult would've calmed the furious man down and gotten his best friend some help already. But the crowd was only growing, making it even harder for Teruko to make it through.

He would be alone in this, so he steeled himself for what would be a _very_ bad experience. He wouldn't let this angry idiot scare him from getting his best friend help, not on his watch. _My hands can wait till later, Izuku needs help right now._

''Korone-san,'' he decided to start polite ''Izuku really needs help! Your-'' He caught himself, rubbing in that his vase is what broke while he looks so angry is probably _not_ smart

''One of the vases on the shelves fell on his head! He's fallen unconscious!'' The desperation was now clear in his voice, Misaki only scowled at him in response, his dark almost void-like pupils staring into Katsuki's red now watery eyes. _Did it work? Has he finally calmed dow—_

Katsuki was gripped by the collar, one arm holding him by his T-shirt as he could feel Izuku start to slip out of his arms and he was slowly but surely lifted off the ground.

He went to grab hold of his friends but his attempt was denied by another larger hand grabbing hold of his hands, holding them with a crushing grip. Katsuki felt his hands go numb for a second, before a searing pain shot through them, it felt like they were imploding, and before he could properly process what was going on he let out a blood curdling scream.

''AAAAAHHHH IT HURTS IT HURTSSTOPSTOPSTOP!''

Katsuki started screaming and trashing around, doing his absolute best to escape out of the iron-grip he was held in, the man seemed unperturbed though as he brought the boy closer.

'' **Do you fucking know what you did, brat?'** ' His grip tightened, dark eyes almost resembling black holes.

Katsuki could feel his lungs and vocal cords rip themselves apart as he screamed for his life, the pain searing through his hands was insufferable.

The kids around them stood frozen in place as they witnessed the blonde boy with intense fear evident in their eyes. None of them seemed to notice the prone boy who was thought to be unconscious shift at the sound of the bellows.

'' **That device was worth more than you and your little shitty friend combined if I were to se-AAHH** "

Katsuki could suddenly feel the man's grip on his neck start to loosen.

 _Wh-what? I-Izuku?_ Katsuki was broken out of his screaming fit as he took in what was happening.

Izuku had latched onto the man's arm, the same arm holding Katsuki's neck, with his _teeth_.

He was viciously biting down on the flesh as his now crimson eyes seemed to glow predatorily while he glared up at the man.

Realizing his friend had left him with an opening Katsuki knew what he had to do. Forcing his already busted hands, he commanded them an especially hot explosion, pushing his hands like that hurt like nothing he had ever felt before. But he had to go through with it, he wouldn't let his friend's surprise attack go to waste.

**BOOM**

if Katsuki had felt immense pain before, whatever he was feeling now must have gone way beyond that, simply because he couldn't feel his hands _at all_ now.

Having let the explosion loose, he fell to the ground while the man now focused on the mop of green still snapped onto his arm like a bear trap, after shaking violently he eventually managed to get the toddler off him.

But not without Izuku taking a considerable lump of the man's arm.

After soaring for not more than a second Izuku dropped to the ground and went limp again, before Katsuki had the chance to rush to his friend's side, Misaki shoved him back as he examined both his burnt hands and his torn arm.

'' **You little shits!** '' He took a heavy step forward, dark eyes blazing. '' **You still dare to fucking burn me, and then have the fucking audacity to bite me like a rat after the shit you pulled?!** ''

He took another step, scorched hands now reaching into a pocket on the inside of his jacket.

'' **I don't even fucking care about the plan anymore, I'll just take both of you and—**

He cut off, suddenly slumping forward as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. In his fall he missed Katsuki and Izuku by a hair, landing right in front of Katsuki's feet

 _He… he fell._ Katsuki thought numbly as he took in the now prone man.

His eyes immediately flitted over to his friend, wanting to be sure he hadn't fallen on any large shards. As he got closer he checked on the boy, realizing he truly was unconscious now and absently noting the lump of flesh had disappeared.

 _It must have been flung somewhere after he was thrown._ He reasoned.

Now finally knowing his friend wasn't in any immediate danger he took the time to realize how truly dangerous the situation had been. In a lot of the anime Katsuki and Izuku watched they would go on about how the heroes could sense the 'killing intent' radiating off the villains or whatever, they'd always thought it to be silly that they could seemingly feel something like that.

But Katsuki knew for a fact that he wasn't imagining it, Katsuki could tell Misaki would have definitely done something bad had he not suddenly collapsed.

He blinked at the thought however, as it only now set in that the man had dropped like a sack of bricks for no apparent reason.

When he finally took in his surroundings, he spotted Teruko positioned right behind where Misaki had been standing just a moment ago.

Katsuki felt lightheaded from all the yelling and screeching he'd done just now, but he could see that the teacher was telling the by-standing kids something, though Katsuki couldn't make out much of what was being said he could at least tell it was urgent.

As the crowd ran off; now snapped out of their fright induced daze, Teruko instantly turned his attention to the boys on the ground, not batting an eye at the body of the unconscious 'teacher' as he mercilessly kicked the man aside, stepping towards the boys.

His voice was filled with worry as he spoke. ''Are you two okay?'' He quickly scanned over the boys, his eyes taking in Katsuki's battered and burnt hands and Izuku's unconscious state.

He instantly grabbed for Izuku's hand to measure his pulse while also checking for breathing, Katsuki had seen people do it in movies before.

When he heard a heartbeat and proper breathing Teruko took a long tired but relieved sigh. In that moment he looked like he had aged 50 years.

''Or I guess that's a really stupid question, huh… the poor kid is out cold, and don't get me started on you.'' He said rhetorically, Katsuki couldn't help but smile a little despite the situation, knowing he and Izuku weren't under the threat of Misaki's violence anymore put his heart at rest somewhat. But he was curious.

''H-how-'' he winced a little at how hoarse his voice felt, he had been screaming his lungs out just now so he supposed it shouldn't come as a surprise. Teruko simply gave him an encouraging smile, so he decided to push through nonetheless.

''Ho- how did you knock h-im out?'' He finally managed to stammer out.

''Oh? You didn't know?'' He looked surprised. ''My quirk is called 'stun-gun'. My body naturally stores a set amount of voltage in my hands, which I can use to zap people.'' He showed him by creating a small spark in the palm of his hand.

Katsuki looked at him incredulously though, ''How c-could a spark like th-that knock him out cold like that?'' It really didn't add up to the child.

Teruko chuckled at the childlike innocence, ''You see, my body can store enough energy into my hands that I could knock out two grown men in a day or one very large man with a lot of fat and muscle.'' He showed him his hands and pointed two fingers for emphasis. ''One K.O. per hand as you may have guessed''

Katsuki looked at him as if he was stupid for a second. _Isn't that pretty busted? If he can just recharge he'll be able to just knock out a ton of people! Why isn't he a hero?_

As if reading his thoughts Teruko looked at him a little… wistfully? ''I know what you're thinking, why am I not a hero right? Well like I said I literally only have 2 charges a day, I can only replenish the charges by having a good nights sleep. Napping doesn't work, trust me I tried.'' He looked away for a second, almost as if sad. Until he locked eyes again, eyes filled with life. ''Besides, even _if_ I could magically recharge it somehow, I would've still become a teacher.''

Katsuki was flabbergasted.

''Wh-what?''

The toddler honestly could not comprehend this. _Someone would give up the chance to become a hero even if they had a strong quirk like that? Why?_

To Katsuki becoming a hero was the most important and only thing he wanted the moment he knew they existed, he knew Izuku thought the same.

So how could someone—even hypothetically speaking—possibly want to decline being a hero in favor of any other job?

Teruko saw the awestruck and confused look on the child's face and smiled warmly, ''You know, I could go on a whole speech over why I would take this job over being a hero any day, but help is coming so I don't think I'll have the time, so I'll give you the short version''

He extended his arm and put his hands on both Katsuki and Izuku's head, ruffling their hair while he glared daggers at the prone man to their side. ''I mean, think about it. If I hadn't become a teacher, how would I be sure you two would've been safe after what this lunatic was going to do to you two, if I didn't have just the right quirk to knock him out without resistance.''

''It's stuff like this among other things that make me glad I became a teacher, I may not directly be saving lives like a hero does daily. But the least I can do is prepare the future generation as best I can, kids like you two are the future after all you know.'' He gave a toothy grin more reminiscent of a 12 year old than that of a man in his mid twenties, but Katsuki couldn't help but let out a rough sounding chuckle.

''Th-that was a little ch-cheesy, but s-surprisingly cool coming fro-from you. You're not a k-kid though so don't make that face, o-old man.'' It hurt his throat to talk so much, but teasing Teruko was more than worth it in Katsuki's eyes.

"H-hey! I'm only 25, I still have my whole life to look forward to.'' The grown man pouted dejectedly. ''You can be so mean for a kid…"

Katsuki simply responded with a sly grin.

Even if he was now teasing Teruko, what the teacher had said had resonated more with him than he let on, he'd die of embarrassment if he were to show it though. He'd talk with Izuku about it later…

_Oh right, Izuku._

While Katsuki had been lost in his thoughts, Teruko had already started looking for any injuries the green haired toddler could have suffered. He'd landed face first on the ground, but luckily enough it didn't look like he landed on any of the shards.

As the teacher went to flip him over so he could carry him, he froze.

"Bakugou… why is Midoriya's face, or should I say his mouth, covered in blood?" He turned to the kid, his expression now serious. "No scratch that, what actually happened here? What caused that shattering noise? And what did that madman do to you two? The first thing I made sure to do was knock the bastard out since you were screaming, but I never caught what was happening."

Teruko knew he should've asked earlier, but he'd wanted to make sure to lift the kid's mood after such a possibly traumatic event. He seemed to be doing relatively okay so he had to ask now, the students he told to get help seemed to be taking their sweet time, so he'd just get the story in the mean-time.

So Katsuki reluctantly told him everything that had happened, the teacher stayed silent for the entirety of the explanation, only giving a worried gasp when he told him about why the vase fell and maliciously scowling at Misaki when he told him how aggressively he had reacted.

After recounting for what felt like an hour to the boy, he finally finished.

"And that's wh-when you knocked him out." Katsuki said while wincing a little, his throat would be _very_ sore after this.

Teruko had taken the opportunity to grab the first aid kit and had started bandaging Katsuki's hands carefully as he told him what happened. He didn't miss the fatigue that was more and more visible in the boy's body language as the adrenaline left his system, Katsuki was becoming drowsy.

"You are telling me the vase fell on his head after you knocked yourself over and hurt your hands, and he _still_ got up after he heard your screaming to bite at the bastard like a piranha? And not only that but he managed to actually tear off _skin_?" Teruko looked astonished, he couldn't tell which part was harder to believe.

_But wait… the only blood on him is from the mongrel. He got hit on the head by something that heavy and didn't bleed a single drop of blood?_

"Bakugou, has Midoriya bled at any point after the accident?" Katsuki actually looked up at that, he hadn't thought about it.

"I… I'm not sure, but I don't ac-actually think so. I didn't get any b-blood on me an-and I had been holding his he-head for a while." Katsuki looked somewhat hopeful now "Is that a go-good thing?" _Maybe he didn't get that hurt after all?_ He hoped innocently.

Contrary to what Katsuki had expected Teruko looked even more grim now. "It's… it's not good at all Bakugou, the damage has a high chance of being internal." Katsuki didn't know exactly what that meant, but it had to be bad. The dread he had felt before returned full force, holding his toddler heart in a vice grip, as he worried even more for his friend's health.

He didn't have much time to wallow in his sorrows as the classroom doors suddenly slid open.

"S-sensei! We got the help!"

They turned around and were instantly greeted by first-aid workers rushing into the classroom.

Teruko hastily got up, making sure to hold Izuku as carefully as possible, Katsuki stood up shakily and followed his teacher as they were guided by one of the workers to the ambulance.

Before they left the classroom what could only have been a detective walked up to Teruko, they exchanged quick words before the detective promptly entered the class followed by a couple of officers.

He couldn't hear what was being said anymore and he didn't care, as he looked at his friend's unconscious face tiredly, he could only think one thing.

_Help is here Izukun, please be okay._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to welcome you to the first story I've ever written, and my first story on Ao3, I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> I originally started exclusively posting on FF.net, but decided it was about time I also cross posted on Ao3 in order to broaden my audience, and to give all exclusive Ao3 readers the ability to read my stories. I also want to apologize in advance for any mistakes I make when it comes to how this site works, I've noticed that it's quite a bit different from FF.net, so please bear with me while I get accustomed to this platform. 
> 
> If you have any advice/tips on what I might want to change or improve about the tags, formatting, notes or anything in general please let me know in the comments! 
> 
> Updates will be consistently twice a week until we are caught up, I'm currently working on chapter 10, this means there are already 9 chapters 'pre-written'. Hopefully I'll have managed to get a good amount of chapters done before we catch up so you guys are able to get consistent updates for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku finally awakens from the injury he suffered, and finds out his body is not what it used to be...

* * *

**~~Unwanted~~ Change**

* * *

He felt like he was floating, as if he was lounging on a cloud. It would almost be soothing if it weren't for the fact that with the floating came an immense numbing and tingling feeling, as if his body was internally shifting. Eyes burning, stomach churning, ears ringing, head aching, with the worst being the feeling in his back. It felt like his back was internally ripping apart, like something was digging a hole through his back, specifically near his waist, the area felt like it was burning and it left him extremely drained.

Even while he was sure his senses had numbed completely, he could still vaguely hear something, someone calling his name? He couldn't tell; it sounded muffled, as if the other person was yelling at him while he was underwater. He couldn't be bothered to actually strain himself to discern who or what was calling out to him, he just wanted peace, so he could bear through the uncomfortable pain he was going through.

His wish was denied—he could suddenly hear shouting even louder than it had been before, but these were different. These cries were filled with utter pain and terror, what shook Midoriya Izuku the most though was that he recognized that voice.

It was his friend, his only friend was shouting for help.

Izuku felt something he had never truly felt before: the desire to truly hurt someone, what came with it surprised him even more though. It was an unfamiliar hunger, for what exactly he did not know.

Before he could even rationalize it, his body began to stir. He lost control as the Mindspace he subconsciously imagined himself in turned red.

There was only one goal on his mind: _Make whoever is hurting Kacchan pay._

* * *

Izuku slowly rouse from his slumber, his breathing was shallow, ears felt plugged and his nose was stuffy, forcing him to breathe through his mouth. He took a moment to fully wake before he tried to move, he noted he was lying in a bed that was rather comfortable, he would honestly rather not move at all and risk losing that comfort but he knew he had to. Thus he opened his eyes, which took much more effort than he had thought it would. His eyelids felt almost glued together, however with some effort he managed to force them open.

He _really_ wished he hadn't though, as the moment his eyes opened everything seemed extremely bright and he could feel his eyes instantly start to sting. _OWOWOW that hurts that hurts! Make it stop!_

He instantly tried to shut his eyes but felt he could not, he started to silently panic as he struggled to shut his eyes. The struggle was ended abruptly however as he could suddenly feel a weird sensation, as if his eyes were shifting and changing internally and his ears were popping, somewhat like gears that were stuck finally clicking into place. And he was finally able to close his eyes.

 _What the hell just happened? I… I definitely couldn't control myself just now, do I… do I even want to try opening my eyes again?_ He considered, still reeling from the previous pain he felt in his now closed eyes. _I can't keep my eyes closed forever, I'll just have to try again... I can only hope the pain will be less if I brace myself for it._

He gulped as he steeled himself for the pain he would have to endure, and opened his eyes. To his surprise (and glee) his eyes didn't feel like they were being stabbed by a dozen needles and he could open them just fine. Taking a sigh of relief and calming himself down a little he decided he wanted to take a look at his surroundings. Which he realized he couldn't really do in the position he was currently in; lying down flat on his back, so he decided to sit up straight. As he moved his arms to push himself up though he felt he couldn't move his left arm, puzzled Izuku slowly turned his head awkwardly to look at the cause of the immobility.

To his surprise he found none other than his friend 'sitting' next to him, he was more or less hanging onto the bed barely while he's seated on the chair. It looked rather uncomfortable but Katsuki still slept through the awkward position just fine as he was firmly holding his friend's left hand with both of his own, which Izuku concernedly noticed were bandaged up quite extensively.

He could only frown at the sight and decided to ask his friend what happened to his hands after he had woken up. _Why is he here though? Where is 'here' anyway?_ He pondered, deciding to sit up the best he could while only using his right arm to support his weight he finally managed to get into a better position. He tried to move Katsuki as little as possible but the sleeping boy still stirred a little at the movement.

Now being properly seated Izuku examined the room he was in as confusion filled him, around him were multiple machines, drawers and shelves, some filled with what looked like documents while others seemed to have bottles that he could only imagine carried medicine.

It was obvious now that he was in a hospital, it all looked pearly white—like all hospitals do—but his nose also picked up a few odd odors other than the signature sterile smell hospitals have. He'd never smelled anything like this before but with his stuffy nose he couldn't discern what exactly it was, what he did know was that for some reason, it made his stomach grumble.

When he looked to his right he saw an IV drip that was attached to his right arm, he hadn't noticed it before, and he honestly wanted to get it off of him as the thought of it being in his arm made him feel squeamish, he knew better not to though.

When he finally felt he had seen everything the room had to offer he couldn't help but feel even more unsatisfied and anxious. _Why am I in a hospital? Why is Kacchan here and why are his hands all bandaged up?_ The questions seemed to pile up even more as the bedridden boy racked his brain for answers, while beside him the sleeping boy finally started to wake up, perhaps unconsciously reacting to izuku's growing distress.

Katsuki slowly opened his eyes, still rather delirious from having just woken up, he blinked drowsily as he lifted himself off the bed slightly to rub at his eyes. This all went unnoticed by Izuku as he was now audibly muttering to himself anxiously as to why he was here and what he should do.

''Wh- what do I do? I mean I guess I shouldn't be doing anything but shouldn't a nurse have arrived already by now? or am I supposed to get up and go myselfbutthenwhydidnttheypu- oof!'' He was roughly interrupted from his in-speed-increasing ramblings as Katsuki tackled him in what he would only later realize was a hug.

Now that his friend was hugging him rather firmly (uncharacteristically so) he could tell something was definitely off. _Kacchan probably knows why we are in a hospital, I should just ask him._ Now having decided on his course of action Izuku spoke up— ''K-kacchan, are you oka-''

''You are actually asking if I'm the one who's okay?!'' --only to be immediately interrupted by a now angry Katsuki. The blonde didn't look sleepy at all anymore. Izuku could've sworn he saw tears form in his friends eyes but couldn't see well from how tightly he was being held. ''After what you did? Are you actually stupid?!'' He seemed to finally catch on to how loud he was yelling and how tightly he was holding Izuku considering his grip was now loosening, the emotion on his face didn't seem to falter at all however.

''You- you're such a nitwit you know, you shouldn't have done something so- so stupid…'' He berated, now talking in a lower volume. He looked like he wanted to continue his tirade but paused abruptly, regarding Izuku wide eyed as if he'd only now understood something. ''Wait. Is your head really okay? you still remember that silly nickname but do you remember who you are?'' He got off the bed, now a lot more careful with his movements.

''What's your full name? what's your mom's name and what's your birthday?'' Katsuki looked at him, waiting for him to answer, Izuku couldn't help but deadpan at his friend though.

''What are you talking about Kacchan?'' He turned in the bed to look at him properly. ''I remember everything just fine. My name is Midoriya Izuku, my mom's name is Midoriya Inko and I’m sure my birthday is July 15th. We both know that Katsuki, why would I suddenly forget any of this? Stop acting so weird, you're scaring me'' He decided to use Katsuki's given name near the end for emphasis.

However it was now the blonde boy's turn to look at his friend as if he was stupid, something seemed to click for him though as he suddenly turned around and started to rummage through the desk behind him.

''They should have at least one of them around here somewhere…'' He murmured more to himself than anyone else, Izuku could only look on dumbfoundedly as his friend continued to scavenge most of the drawers, until he stopped. ''Found it.'' He said suddenly, slight pride evident in his voice, still with his back to Izuku.

''Found what?'' He hadn't seen what his friend had pulled out of the desk and didn't know if he was even allowed to go through their stuff, but the curiosity got the better of him. Katsuki turned around and Izuku could finally see what his friend had been looking for; a pocket mirror was being held awkwardly by Katsuki with his bandaged hands as he walked back to the bed with a small smirk.

''Why would you go looking for a mirror?'' Izuku asked confusedly, shifting his legs to hang over the edge of the side of the bed, he noted he was wearing one of those hospital gowns and suddenly felt a little cold. Katsuki acknowledged his change in position and sat next to him on the bed, handing him the mirror with both his hands.

''Take a look yourself, I'd figured you wouldn't notice it till you saw it''

Izuku looked a little unsure at that. _What's he talking about?_

''Just take it already darn it.'' Slight annoyance now clear in his voice as he shoved the small mirror into his hands. ''Look at your head and you tell me if there's something different, mister know-it-all''

Izuku decided to listen to his friend for once and lifted the mirror to his face. He gasped as he saw what Katsuki had meant, his head was covered in bandages. But that wasn't all, his face looked terrible in general. His skin was rather pale and his cheeks were sunken in, he had noticeable bags under his eyes, his eyes looked rather irritated and swollen and not to mention his nose was red and he could see the snot start to leak out.

Thankfully Katsuki didn't fail to notice and got him a tissue, not bothering to hide his disgusted expression, to izuku's dismay.

As he took in his disheveled appearance some more and he cleaned his nose he turned to Katsuki, who made sure to take multiple steps away during the nose cleaning, giving him a nasty look all the while. Izuku looked at him scathingly and contemplated throwing the used tissue at his friend, but decided against it, for now.

''Okay, I look like crap. But why is my head wrapped in bandages?'' He pointed at his head. ''While I think I remember everything else I really can't remember what could've caused this. And what happened to your hands?''

Katsuki looked him over pensively for a second before looking away in thought. ''So you forgot what happened back _then_ huh, I think that's the 'best case scenary'. Or whatever it is the doctor had called it.'' He finally sat back down on the bed and showed Izuku his bandaged hands.

''This is important though, do you remember my quirk?'' He looked at his friend somewhat patiently, indicating it was fine if Izuku took his time recalling. _Quirk… I definitely remember Kacchan showing me, I was pretty excited…_ as he thought about it he looked at his friends hands, until something came to him.

_'Look Izukun, I got my quirk yesterday, the doctor said it's called explosion! Isn't that cool?'_

_'R-really Kacchan?! That's awesome! Just think about all the thi-'_

''It's explosion, or something like that, right?'' Izuku thought out loud, looking to his friend for confirmation, which he instantly got as Katsuki smiled and nodded, he looked relieved.

''Phew, that's good then'' His smile now turning into a more mischievous one. ''I was afraid I'd have to deal with your excitement of telling you my quirk again, you can be such a hyperactive baby when it's about quirks you know.'' Izuku wanted to retort but before he had the chance they could hear the door open, Katsuki looked a little peeved as he started to get off the bed.

Through the door came a man wearing a typical white doctor coat with a black and blue tie, he wore red rimmed glasses and seemed to be average height, his face radiated kindness even though he looked rather panicked as he walked into the room. The man seemed to calm down considerably when he saw the two boys however, he nodded at Izuku politely as if asking him to wait a little and then beckoned for Katsuki to follow him to the door, it seemed the doctor was getting ready to chide the boy as they stepped outside the room.

What they were about to talk about was obviously not meant to be heard by Izuku, but he strangely was able to hear more of what they were saying than he had expected himself to considering they were now also separated by the door. Curiosity got to him and he strained his ears, and managed to catch a part of the conversation.

''-ought I told you to come get me the moment he woke up Bakugou-kun… That was the entire reason we allowed you to stay with him.'' The doctor whispered a little heatedly, but not unkindly. ''And yet just now a nurse came to me because she heard shouting coming from this room.'' He now looked at Katsuki, obviously expecting him to explain himself.

Katsuki only huffed in response though, looking at him with childish defiance clear on his face. ''Yeah well I was planning to, _Kanou-san'_ ' _So that must be the doctors name._ Izuku thought to himself while wincing at how rude his friend was being to the doctor, he was leaning in more to listen while hopefully staying unnoticed.

''But since I'm his _best friend_ I decided I'd test myself whether or not he forgot anything, if anyone would be able to tell it would be _me_ '' He puffed out his chest proudly as he pointed his thumb at himself. ''And so I did, and now I know that he's basically fine.'' At that Kanou-san looked absolutely bewildered, Katsuki could clearly see the shock on the doctors face as he opened the door.

To catch Izuku standing next to the bed, guilty of listening in.

Now having been caught eavesdropping Izuku turned a little red as he sat back down on the bed, Katsuki just shot him a dirty look as he also stepped through the door. Doctor Kanou only smiled wryly at him, only to then turn pensive shortly after.

''Midoriya-kun, were you able to hear what we were saying from there?'' He asked inquisitively, more out of interest rather than anger for catching him in the act. Izuku couldn't help but look down.

''Y-yes…'' he admitted before quickly putting his hands up in a bit of a panic. ''B-but I swear I didn't really mean to! It's just that you two were talking pretty loudly so I just got curious and well…'' The panic was quickly replaced with embarrassment.

Katsuki looked at him weirdly though. _Talking loudly? I'm pretty sure we were both whispering, and the door was definitely closed. Is he bluffing? That's unlikely though, he's a terrible liar, and seems honest…_ Katsuki reasoned with himself, he looked at the doctor to see if the man had noticed the discrepancy in his friend's statement too, and was proven to be right. Doctor Kanou also had his brows furrowed and seemed to be considering what Izuku had just said. Before shaking himself out of his thinking as he smiled sheepishly.

''Ah, well lets forget about that for now, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Tsubasa Kanou, as you could probably tell I'm a doctor in this hospital. And I guess you could say I was tasked with checking on your health and making sure you stayed stable during your three day rest.'' The doctor wanted to continue but stopped when he saw the bewildered look on Izuku's face, he nodded in understanding.

''Oh right, how stupid of me. You are probably still confused as to what the reason is for your stay here, I'll be sure to tell you now. But before we get to that…'' Doctor Kanou turned to Bakugou and started reaching into one of his coat pockets before he pulled out a piece of paper and a card. '' _You_ , Bakugou-kun, are going to call his mom for me, you probably already know her number since you seem so smart but I'll still give it to you just in case.'' Katsuki turned red at that but didn't say anything as he grasped the number with his bandaged hand.

''As for this card, you just need to show it to the reception and tell them I sent you to make a personal call.'' He said with finality to his voice. ''Oh and while you are there call your parents to come pick you up, I trust I won't have to give you their number.'' He added as an after-thought.

Katsuki was fine with calling Izuku's mom, but he was _not_ being sent away, before he could give a say in the matter however he was pushed out of the door by the doctor. ''You can take your time coming back, if you come back at all, I'll see you later Bakugou-kun.'' He said quickly before he shut the door and locked it before the boy could try anything to block the door.

After twisting the lock and waiting for Katsuki to actually walk away from the door (with a childish curse) he let out a sigh. ''That kid can really be a handful.'' He turned to Izuku and sat down on the chair Katsuki had previously been sleeping in, pulling what looked like a tablet out of his coat. ''How can you even be friends with someone so rowdy? You two seem like polar opposites.''

Izuku only smiled in response, he wasn't wrong.

''That's true, but we've practically known each other since we were born, we might as well be brothers at this point. I guess you could compare it to how you can't dislike your sibling no matter how different they are from you.'' Izuku looked up as the doctor nodded intently. ''Besides, we aren't _that_ different, we both absolutely love heroes and want to become one when grow up!''

Excitement was now leaking through his voice, as he started talking about his favorite subject. ''We both want to be just like All might! To Protect everyone with a smile. Now that Kacchan has his quirk we just need to wait until I get mine and we can start designing our costumes and I will write the analysis while Kacchan does all the-''

''Woah woah, calm down Midoriya-kun, I understand you are very excited about becoming a hero, but you are still unwell so please don't overexert yourself too much.'' Doctor Kanou interjected Izuku kindly, now grabbing a stylus from his pocket while Izuku was rubbing his bandaged head sheepishly. ''And I can now see that you truly haven't suffered severe amnesia like Bakugou-kun had said, though I have to ask, I heard you saying your quirk still hasn't developed?'' He now looked down at his tablet, absentmindedly tapping the stylus on the bezel as he prepared to write.

Izuku gulped a little at the seemingly normal question, he had always been a little insecure about the prospect of his quirk. He and Katsuki had both been somewhat late bloomers, with them both nearly turning five in a few months, the difference was that Katsuki now had already developed a quirk, and a really cool one at that.

He was now secretly fearing he would be left behind if his quirk didn't develop soon, his classmates were also becoming somewhat impatient considering most had already developed theirs. Even though he could vaguely remember them being rather impressed by Katsuki's quirk, it would only mean their expectations for Izuku would be higher considering the two were constantly stuck together.

He decided to push the pessimistic thoughts away for now when he realized he was making the doctor wait. ''Uh- um yeah I don't really have a quirk yet, my mom and I were planning on going to a specialist if it hadn't developed after my fifth birthday.'' He muttered nervously.

The information only served to perplex the doctor. ''You mean to tell me you really hadn't developed your quirk yet? You're absolutely _positive_?'' Izuku was caught off guard by the doctors confusion of his lack of a quirk, it certainly didn't make him feel much better about his situation and he could almost feel tears prick at his eyes.

''Why i-is that so hard to believe? I would know if my quirk had developed beforehand, how is this important now anyways?'' Izuku was just trying to change the subject at this point, he was _not_ particularly fond of talking about his shortcomings, especially to someone who seemed insistent it was odd for him to be that way.

At the shaky tone in the kid's voice Doctor Kanou figured he was being a little too pushy with the child. _I need to take it slow, as interesting as this scenario is I'm still talking to a toddler._ He mentally berated himself. The doctor coughed into his hand as he shifted a little in his seat.

''Please forgive me if I am being a little pushy on this subject, but this is actually more important than you think. I suppose for you to understand the importance of the matter I need to tell you what caused you to be here to begin with. Let me ask once again before I start though, do you truly not recall what happened three days ago in the classroom?''

If he could remember? He honestly couldn't remember much apart from small fragments. Izuku tried to rack his brain but couldn't come up with anything concrete. ''Nothing really… just Kacchan showing me his quirk and a weird tingling feeling all over my body. I also remember being angry at some point, but that might just have been a dream.''

Doctor Kanou mulled his answer over as he wrote it all down, before setting the tablet and stylus down on the desk next to the bed. ''Alright, if that's truly everything you remember then I'll just tell you everything, or at least everything important to this situation.''

And so the doctor told Izuku of what had happened in those fateful 5 minutes, while the boy stayed quiet for most of the retelling, the emotions were clear on his face. From disbelief to fear, he was like an open book. Until his face went unreadable after he told him of how Izuku had managed to attack Misaki viciously even after he'd been knocked out, to defend Katsuki. The doctor hurried to finish the story after that.

''And then the first aid brought you here, and here we are.'' He finished solemnly. He left some details out concerning his stay in the hospital but that wasn't as important now, he just had to give the child some time to process this. So he sat and waited for the kid to respond.

''... are Kacchan's hands going to be okay?'' The boy finally asked in an almost whisper.

This somewhat impressed the doctor. _Remarkable, after everything I just told him his main concern is his friend's well being, I could truly see this kid becoming a hero. He has the heart at least._ Doctor Kanou smiled kindly at the boy who's face remained unreadable. ''Don't worry, he's still young so his hands won't scar except for maybe one or two marks on some of his fingers. They should fade over time though, I'll go into a little more detail later.'' The man was relieved to see the boy seemed to ease up at that, his eyes regaining some life as his posture went a little more slack.

Kanou grabbed his tablet and stylus once again as he pushed up his glasses, looking at Izuku a little more seriously now. ''While I do find it noble that you're worried about Bakugou-kun, you should be more concerned about your own health. You are the one who was knocked out for three days, not him.'' Izuku panicked at that, finally realizing that he had indeed been knocked out cold for three whole days.

''Wh-what do you mean? Is there something wrong with me? You said I was fine right? I didn't need any surgery so-''

''Yes you're correct'' Doctor Kanou decided to cut him off, saving them both time and energy. ''But that's exactly what the problem is, you are almost _perfectly_ fine. Abnormally so for a _child_ who was hit on the head by an estimated 20 kg (44 lbs.) vase, not only that but you even got up shortly after what should have been a lethal blow to the head and proceeded to bite the man with enough strength to tear skin.'' The doctor seemed almost excited now, as he was rapidly tapping the stylus on the armrest of the chair.

''Here's the absolute kicker though, by the time you were brought to the hospital, the scans showed you had almost healed the _entirety_ of the wound. I have no idea what that vase was made of but your teacher had said it had had a rather thick underside, meaning the impact might as well have been that of a heavy rock falling on the back of your head. I can't stress this enough, but Midoriya-kun, theoretically speaking, _you should've died on the spot the moment the vase impacted with your skull._ And yet here you are, maybe not the healthiest you've ever been but definitely alive.''

Kanou calmed down as he ended his exposition, now twirling the stylus in his hand as he patiently waited for Izuku to process the information as if he hadn't just dumped it all on him in an instant. It only now occurred to the man that the child had frozen up and had started shaking. _Sh-shit, I got too excited again and told a child he should be dead, I'm such an idiot!_ Accidentally dropping the stylus, as his mind raced for a way to salvage the situation, he only barely heard what the child had whimpered as he quickly reached for it on the floor.

''Does- does that mean,'' Izuku had whimpered almost in disbelief. ''That I-I have a... quirk?'' Tears were starting to form in his eyes, Kanou regarded him softly. _Becoming a hero must mean a lot to him, from what I've gathered so far he doesn't seem like the most confident type. He was probably starting to doubt himself for not having a quirk yet, Midoriya-kun would've most likely been devastated if he ended up quirkless…_

* * *

Kanou had seen it more often than he would like, the look of a kid's dreams slipping away right in front of his eyes as they are told they are quirkless, it made him hate the new world they lived in. He had read countless books about the era before quirks had manifested in mankind, and he had come to find that bullying had also been present back then.

However back then people were nearly always born equal, there were exceptions with some people being born with birth defects but those were incredibly rare, and even then it was socially looked down upon to maliciously target those people, instead it was encouraged to help them as much as possible.

Bullying during that era occurred most often because of either jealousy or mild forms of xenophobia towards people different from what's considered to be the standard. In a nutshell the bullying had been only a slight problem, victims of it were unhappy but the bullying often didn't last too long and was only in select cases extreme. Since it wasn't like their lives were doomed from the start, they could still turn it around with help.

This new age is different however, with the sudden appearance of quirks also came a monumental shift in social balance. Now people could be born with powers that could be objectively stronger than other's and with the increase in the need for heroes stronger quirks became more idolized. Those with weaker quirks are not looked down upon or rejected as much, but that's only because they are naturally the majority, since the stronger quirks are more rare society has decided to treat those with more care. Making sure they will be able to grow into strong heroes rather than strong villains, to the point it could be considered unfairly picking favorites.

In this all lies one major outlier however: The quirkless, people born without a quirk. Where in the old era people could be bullied for weighing more or looking different, most of it was temporary. One could often lose weight, dress differently or simply find an environment more accepting. That isn't the case for the quirkless, being only 20% of the population they are a huge minority in this world where quirks are considered to be what makes someone special. In this era being quirkless is like having a stamp on your back, marking you to be doomed for the rest of your life. People with weak or useless quirks are only accepted because they are the majority, and they often support each other.

The quirkless however do not have numbers to fall back upon. The lack of a quirk might as well be considered being severely disabled. _It's no wonder the percentage is going down so quickly, the life expectancy of a quirkless person is often not more than 30._ He thought bitterly, not realizing how long he was making Izuku wait with his inner monologue.

Turning out to be quirkless is something he wouldn't wish upon anyone, coming out of the womb with what used to be a perfectly healthy body with the only thing lacking a freakish power, is now considered being handicapped. Kanou cursed the people that had allowed for this social inequality to root itself so deeply in society, and cause the child in front of him to fear he wasn't born correctly.

He finally broke out of his thoughts to turn to Izuku, who was now waiting for him with bated breath.

''Yes, Midoriya-kun. The only possible explanation is that your quirk awakened right then and there.''

* * *

_Y-yes..._

_Finally._

Izuku could barely process the information, he had heard it loud and clear, and yet he felt he was dreaming. This was the day he had been hoping for since he knew quirks manifested around the age of four, to finally get his own, to be able to become a hero. To be able to walk alongside his friend proudly without having to worry about what others thought, because he had a _quirk_.

Tears started freely streaming down his face and he could feel his nose unclog, his gown and face rapidly became a gross mixture of the two liquids as he cried his eyes out.

He didn't know why he reacted to the news like this but he had an idea; he’d been afraid, even if he tried to deny it he had been afraid that he or Kacchan wouldn't get their quirk and wouldn't be able to become a hero. When Katsuki had showed him his quirk he remembered he had been happy and scared at the same time, scared of being left in the dust by his friend.

He wouldn't have to worry anymore though, he really had a quirk now. Just like Katsuki, just like every other kid in his class.

He blinked at that thought however, _Kanou-san said I have quirk, but what is it? I hope it's not just regeneration… That would be kinda lame._ He quickly berated himself for thinking that though. _Wh-what am I saying? I should be happy I have a quirk at all, beggars can't be choosers or whatever mom always says…_ He looked down, noticing the mess he made while the doctor finally spoke up again.

''W-well… you've made a little bit of a mess now haven't you.''

The man chuckled softly, causing Izuku to want to cringe out of existence. He probably looked absolutely disgusting and had cried like a little baby too. ''Don't worry about it though, it's natural to be happy after hearing you have a quirk. Especially such a mysterious one.'' He said cryptically.

 _Mysterious?_ _Does even Kanou-san not know what it is?_ Izuku wondered. ''What do you mean by _mysterious?_ Is there something wrong with it?'' He really hoped that wasn't the case, he had heard about cases where quirks could backfire on the user and were better off not being used. Like one villain who was constantly hungry until he went insane. Or a kid who had an incredibly strong lightning quirk that exploded with energy every time it was triggered, to the point it was unusable.

Kanou started twirling with the stylus again as he thought about it before responding. ''Don't worry too much, it's not like your quirk will snap you out of existence or anything.''

Izuku couldn't help but think that was a little _too_ specific, before he could state his worries the doctor continued however. ''It's more that your quirk is a bit of an enigma is all, that's not a bad thing, but in this case it might influence your lifestyle a little more than we expected.''

''Sir, you're still being a little cryptic, what do you mean?'' Izuku found himself blurting out, only afterwards realizing it had come across kind of rude. ''I didn't me-mean that in a bad way!'' He moved his arms placatingly, the doctor simply chuckled at the boy's antics.

''You're right, I guess I'm beating around the bush a little extensively. I'll explain why your quirk is a bit of a mysterious mystery.'' He said a little playfully, trying to ease Izuku's worries a little. He grabbed his tablet and tapped on it a few times, opening a report as he started to explain.

''Like I had just said, when you were brought in we immediately hooked you up to one of our scanners, we were surprised to see your wound had practically closed up and was healing slowly. You were relatively stable, so we made sure to disinfect what we could and bandage your head to leave it to heal itself. Then we just hooked you to an IV drip and let you rest, your mother and Mitsuki-san had arrived meanwhile, I can now see the crying runs through the family.'' Izuku blushed at that. ''This would all be well and good if your quirk was just a simple regeneration factor, but it's not

''After we had put you to rest I went on to treat Bakugou-kun's hands, he didn't have much more than skin level second degree burns from forcing his quirk to produce a heat his hands didn't have the appropriate level of heat resistance for, normally it would leave discoloration but considering he's still young and the resistance in his hands should increase as his quirk becomes stronger he should be fine. So you really won't have to worry about him, I'm getting off track again though.'' The doctor took a moment to read something on his tablet as he continued.

''Right, so after I treated Bakugou-kun's hands he told me something interesting: your eyes had apparently changed from your usual green to what he described as 'red pupils with the white of his eyes black'. You also seemed uncharacteristically aggressive and showed remarkable jaw strength when you attacked the assailant.'' The doctor crossed his legs as he leaned into his chair more.

''We can't be sure we can believe all the details he mentioned however, considering he also stated you actually ripped a considerable chunk of flesh after you were thrown off. The clean up crew couldn't find any evidence to prove that though, so I'm going to have to ask you about your experience. Did you notice anything when you woke up? Any reaction of the sorts?''

He now looked a up from the tablet to gaze at Izuku somewhat hopefully. Izuku still had a hard time dealing with the fact he had actually done something so violent to begin with, but it would make sense if his quirk somehow made him act up. He took a moment to reconsider everything he could remember and that had happened that could be of importance. _The doctor is right, some odd things have happened since I woke up._ After mentally listing everything he could think of, he replied.

''Well, I can remember having a weird dream, it felt like I was floating and my whole body seemed to be…'' He tried to think of the right word to describe the odd feeling. ''Shifting? As if it was internally moving around or something.'' He now cupped his chin with his hand thoughtfully.

''I also remember being angry at something or someone, but after that everything just went red and I woke up in the bed. What was really weird is that when I tried to open my eyes they started to sting and really hurt, they also locked up or something because I couldn't close my eyes, I also think my ears might have popped at the same time but I barely felt that.''

Izuku tried to remember if he forgot to mention anything. ''And I guess I do feel pretty tired, even though I slept three days. Other than that I don't really know. _Well I do think everything smelled weird, but that's probably just because I haven't been in a hospital room for very long_ ''I think, that's all.''

Doctor Kanou nodded as he wrote everything down, he looked to be satisfied with what he had been told. ''Good, good. That's all very useful information, I think I have a good grasp on what your quirk is. And I also have the reason as to why you still feel and look so tired even after having slept 3 days, I'm afraid it's not so good news. It has to do with what I said about your quirk possibly affecting your lifestyle.''

At the mention of bad news Izuku could feel his heart beat in his throat. ''What… what do you mean?'' It had to be too good to be true, to finally get his quirk only to learn he might not even be able to use it, or worse…

The doctor noticed Izuku's rapid spike in nervousness and stifled a cough. ''As I mentioned before, when we placed you here to rest we connected you to an IV drip.'' He pointed to the tube attached to Izuku's right arm. ''As you may or may not know, one thing IV drips are useful for is how they can directly inject the necessary nutrients, vitamins and medication into the bloodstream, that's how we make sure patients who are incapable of physically eating the food get the required energy they need to stay healthy and recover quickly. Sometimes patients may lose some weight if they are on the drip for a while simply because they are only getting the necessary nutrients to recover, but other than that they would not look much better or worse than when they came in.''

Izuku viewed the tube running from his arm with reservation, he disliked needles and hated the thought of it still being stuck in him. He didn't understand the problem though, what did this tube have anything to do with his lifestyle? It only delivers nutrients into his body to keep him health—

_'But other than that they would not look much better or worse than when they came in.'_

_Oh._

He understood, and it must have shown on his face, because Doctor Kanou regarded him with a knowing look in his eyes. ''You seem to have understood already, and your assumption is most likely correct.

''When we connected you to the drip we started to notice it wasn't really working. While your wound was still healing your physical condition didn't seem to change for the better, eventually it even got worse, it seemed your body wasn't taking in any of the nutrients or simply couldn't convert them into energy. It's still just a hypothesis however so we decided it would be best if we still left the drip connected just in case.'' He reached towards the tube in izuku's arm and carefully removed it, Izuku winced at the feeling. ''You won't need it anymore now.'' He said as he left the tube to hang next to the drip and went to sit back down.

''This all has lead me to believe your quirk may have changed how your digestion and metabolism functions or how your body takes in energy, to what extent I still don't know, but I think I might have an idea as to what might be the 'solution' if that really ends up being the case.'' He sounded almost ominous. ''We can't jump to any conclusions until you actually try eating actual food though. It's also important that your mother learns of this possible outcome, even if it's still mere speculation.'' He took a second to take off his glasses and rub at his eyes, he looked much older without them.

''I believe we should move on to a more positive topic for now.'' The doctor finally put the tablet down on the desk next to the bed as he stretched exhaustedly, taking a quick glance at Izuku to see the boy was lost in thought. Whether they were the good or the bad kind Kanou couldn't tell, but he decided it wise to take the boy's mind off the heavy topic for now with some good information concerning his quirk.

''It's not all bad though Midoriya-kun, I still haven't told you what your quirk actually _is_ , it's actually quite promising. You _do_ want to hear it, right?'' He told the lost-in-thought boy incitingly, hoping the boy Izuku would respond.

Luckily it worked, the kid quickly perked up at the mention of his quirk potentially being promising, and glanced at the doctor expectantly. ''What is it? It has to be more than just regeneration right? Because I read somewhere th-''

''You are right.'' Kanou cut him off. The doctor wryly noted that interrupting the boy's ramblings had become somewhat routine at this point. ''It's more than just a mere regeneration quirk, I think it's a lot more versatile than that.

''You might personally not have noticed much difference but I can tell, your senses have improved greatly haven't they?'' He asked somewhat rhetorically. ''You said it before as well; that you could smell something you never have before in the room. Not to mention the fact you could hear me and Bakugou-kun _whispering_ to each other even while the door was closed, those doors while not sound proof, would _definitely_ block the sound of us whispering. Normally someone would have to put their ears to the door to hear something that quiet through the door, yet you had no problem catching the conversation from where you were standing, which was still relatively far removed from the door.''

Izuku looked perplexed. _That's true isn't it? Even now I can almost hear the people talking outside, and a weird smell coming from Kanou-san, hand sanitizer? I wasn't able to hear or smell that good before…_ ''That's… wow.'' He uttered, at a loss for words at the new developments he only now realized his body had made.

''There's more though, I think what Bakugou-kun had said about your eyes turning 'red and black' and that weird pain you suffered when you opened your eyes has a correlation. My current theory is that your eyes _did_ actually undergo a change of sorts at that moment, it's possible that your eyes stung so much when you opened them is because your eyes had to readjust since the last time had been during the incident.'' He pointed at his own eyes. ''Perhaps your eyes shifting in color is more than just an aesthetic change, it might also increase your visual prowess in some ways.''

Excitement started to bubble from the child now. ''R-really? That's so cool!'' He pumped his fists. ''Are there any more cool things my quirk can do?'' He was already content with what he had learned so far, but more would always be appreciated especially considering his quirk already seemed to be feature-packed.

Kanou chuckled at Izuku's excitement. ''It's good you're excited, you should be, you have a very peculiar quirk. Not only does it increase you senses but I think it also made your body a tad bit more durable, when we tried to insert the IV drip we actually had some trouble getting the needle in; your skin was rather tough. We needed to utilize a semi reinforced needle, we normally use those in case we need to inject someone with a grade one skin hardening quirk, which isn't the toughest hardening there is, but is still pretty impressive considering there is still a lot we don't know about your quirk.''

As he took some time to process all the information he had just received, Izuku's smile grew almost tenfold. ''Awesome! I never would have thought my quirk would end up being so cool, I have to tell Kacchan as soon as possible!'' He was positively beaming now, almost jumping with glee.

Kanou looked a little more hesitant though. ''Now now, calm down. There's still something that might be of importance I'll have to tell you abou-''

For the umpteenth time that day, someone was interrupted mid-speech. Izuku jumped up at the sound of the door handle being turned rather desperately, startled by the loud noise that ringed through his sensitive ears.

Kanou took no time at all to stand up and instantly head for the door to see for himself who could be the cause of the loud noise.

He looked through the blinds he nodded curtly at whoever stood behind the door, and turned the lock, opening the door. Once he did, Izuku was spooked once more as a loud cry sounded through the room as the cause of the noise stormed through the door—

''MY IZUKUUUUU''

—and he was enveloped in a tight sloppy hug from his mother.

''I guess it can wait.'' Kanou said softly as he took in the pair, both now crying as they embraced each other tightly.

* * *

The rest went by rather quick, Izuku learned Katsuki's mom had already arrived and taken Katsuki home (Not that the boy hadn't tried his darndest to stay) which bummed Izuku out a little. That disappointment soon vanished however as the doctor told his mom about his newly developed quirk, and how versatile it was.

Inko had been somewhat surprised to learn that her son's quirk was radically different from her or her husband's, but was still incredibly happy for her child after the doctor explained it was nothing to worry about, and that it was possible for a child's quirk to not resemble that of their parent's on occasion, even if it was a bit rare.

Her mood dampened considerably however when she was told about the possible change in izuku's metabolism, the fact it was a hypothesis did not really help in this case, it simply made her more nervous for dinner, since it was now becoming rather late. Kanou had advised that Izuku be given food he liked, to test if his metabolism had truly changed. And to report to him if that doesn't or does unfortunately end up being the case, he had given Inko his number shortly after.

Izuku then got changed into clothes his mother brought with her and headed off, Kanou seeing them to the hospital's exit. ''Do not try to force down the food if you can tell it's making you feel bad, Midoriya-kun, you'll just get sick otherwise. Call me immediately after dinner, hopefully with good news.'' The doctor had added kindly before the Midoriya's stepped into Inko's car, Kanou waving them off as they drove away.

The street lights turned on, indicating it was becoming late. And Izuku could feel himself fall into a sleepy daze as he followed the passing lights, his mom quickly took notice though, _it'd be troublesome if he fell asleep now._

''Isn't it great Izuku? You finally got your quirk! Do you remember asking for one last Christmas? It looks like Santa didn't have to deliver you one after all.'' She joked, Izuku turned a bright red at the embarrassing memory though and instantly went to respond, drowsiness nowhere to be found.

Izuku had really tried everything to get his quirk to develop as quickly as possible. He had tried to persuade her multiple times to put all types of junk in his food to allow him to get his quirk early, none of the advice he found was real, with it all just being jokes made by people on the web with nothing better to do. He spent a lot of time on the internet looking up all types of quirk related stuff, from heroes to new discoveries, she was confident he'd seen it all at this point, even though he could barely read.

Not to mention the amount of views he must have added to one of those All Might videos just by himself. He had _really_ been desperate for a quirk, and Inko was starting to worry when his fifth birthday was nearing and it still hadn't come. Especially for what it would've done to her son, for his dreams to be squashed like that, and for him to have to suffer through life while quirkless, which might as well be a death sentence these days.

Inko did _not_ want to think about that.

But now with the news that his quirk might actually affect his digestion to the point he may not be able to eat normal food was extremely worrying to her. That would be incredibly troublesome and might mean death for her son if he by some tragedy ended up not being able to eat anything at all. Even if that did end up being the case however, she wasn't sure she could wish the quirk hadn't developed. It was because of it her boy was still breathing now, and hadn't died on that day.

Truth to be told, her heart had almost stopped when she had heard the news three days ago. She had been at work with Mitsuki when her phone had gone off, it had been one of Izuku's teachers; Teruko-something if she remembered correctly. He had told her what had happened to Izuku and Katsuki, and she instantly dragged Mitsuki to the car, work be damned. Her friend had been confused but didn't protest when she saw how serious Inko was.

Inko Midoriya was often a crybaby, but would _always_ hold herself together when her baby was in danger, Mitsuki knew that very well, and was proven right when Inko finally told her what happened during their rush to see if their kids were alright. When they finally arrived at the hospital she was happy to see Katsuki was fine, but she wanted to see her baby. Mitsuki naturally chose to stay with her boy to calm him down after what had happened, and went to call her husband to inform him.

When doctor Kanou told her what happened to Izuku and how he was magically still alive she was both hopelessly happy somewhat proud at the same time, happy for the fact her son was magically okay and wouldn't be left with any lasting damage. And proud that he had jumped in to save his friend, she had truly raised a little hero. She then decided she wouldn't be angry at Izuku for putting himself in harm's way like he had.

She would've done the same had Mitsuki been in that scenario after all.

And now they were parked in front of their house, having had a healthy discussion during the trip back, over whether Izuku may or may not have wished for the power to grow blonde hair and a monkey tail last Christmas. They stepped out of the car and headed for their house.

''Mooom! I didn't ask for the tail, it just comes with it! And it's not just blonde hair! You grow stronger! It's to go even further beyond-''

''Plus ultra sweetie, I get it. But I've never seen someone who can turn blonde with a tail, that is also capable of blowing up planets. Actually it would be rather troublesome if you could, I didn't raise a delinquent after all.'' She cut him off playfully, looking in her purse for the keys as Izuku trailed after her.

''Ugh'' He huffed, a typical childish pout on his round face. ''You wouldn't get it anyways, I don't understand how old people can be old and not know about the old series at the same time, it's only about one hundred fifty years old, two hundred tops! And it's even getting a reboot next year!''

Inko shot him a motherly glare indicating he was in trouble. ''What did you call me, _sweetie?_ '' Her voice tinged with an icy edge as she pushed open the door with a little more force than usual. Izuku realized he would be in mortal danger if he didn't scram _ASAP_.

He efficiently threw off his shoes and switched to his slippers as he dashed past his mom into the house. ''N-n-n-Nothing! I'm gonna take a quick shower okay? Okay!'' He rushed off, fearing for his life.

An angry Inko is something you should truly fear, those close to her knew that well.

Though she couldn't help but smile at seeing her child back in the house, she had visited the hospital as much as she could the past few days, and was happy Katsuki had volunteered to stay with her child for as much as Mitsuki allowed him (That boy could be such a sweetheart when he didn't involve Izuku in some grand prank.) But it was nothing compared to truly having her child with her in the house, she had missed her baby so much.

Following her son into the house she put her coat and purse on the rack and headed to the kitchen. _The doctor had said to make something he likes, Katsudon then._ She decided, grabbing the necessary ingredients for the dish. She honestly didn't know what she would do if he really couldn't eat it, at this point she could only hope that wasn't the case and they could just have a nice dinner again after three days.

But she had to be ready for the worst. She could hear the water in the shower turn on, and went on to preparing the food.

After a while she could hear the bathroom door opening, indicating Izuku had finished showering, he soon walked into the living room as Inko was placing their bowls on the table. ''Katsudon! Thanks mom.'' He said happily from across the room.

This was met with confusion from Inko, who was surprised Izuku could discern the meal when the only thing she had put on the table were the bowls, though she quickly understood that he must have smelled if from all the way across the room though. ''Y-yes sweetie, very sharp of you.'' She said uncertainly. It would definitely take some time to get used to her son's enhanced senses, she realized.

''It smells different from usual though…'' He looked to be in thought as he sat down on his usual chair, right across from his mother. Inko didn't know if that comment was a good or a bad sign, but just brushed it off to him having to get used to his new sense of smell.

She filled their bowls and prepared to eat. This was the moment they would know for sure.

''Al-alright Izuku, let's dig in now.'' She couldn't stop her nervousness from leaking out as she stuttered a little. ''And don't forget what the doctor said, don't force it if you don't feel you can eat it.'' She added quickly, it would be bad if he pretended to be able to eat the food after all.

''Ri-right mom'' The nervousness was now reciprocated by the boy, as he lifted the chopsticks to eat his favorite dish. ''Th-thanks for the food, time to dig in…''

He efficiently moved his chopsticks and lifted a piece of the rice-meat combo between the two sticks, and placed them in his mouth. He started to chew.

_It tastes… it tastes like-_

He was about to swallow the bite and tell his mom how good it tasted, that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it and that everything was fine.

But his body _heavily_ disagreed, he could feel himself choking out the food as the taste of it in his throat and tongue almost burned yet felt very slimy at the same time to make a repulsive combination.

It was _disgusting_ and he could feel his stomach turn, making an effort to make sure he puked it all out.

He pushed the sensation down as he resorted to sloppily heaving the food out, slumped over the table coughing up a storm. Inko quickly realized what was happening and reached for a roll of paper, giving him a few he could barf in while she steadily patted him on the back.

She could feel her heart sink, it was obvious what this meant and there was no denying it at this point.

Izuku seemed to calm down, having spat out all the food in the now filthy paper towel he had used to catch the remains in, his breathing was labored and he was still shaking slightly. She noticed he was crying, but not normal tears.

She turned the boy so she could properly look at his face and let out a gasp, when she looked him in the eyes she wasn't met with the forest green orbs he had been born with. No, they were a deep crimson contrasted by his now black sclera, when she looked closer she could see what seemed like thin red veins run from his pupil to the lids of his eyes. What shook her the most though were his now red tears, it looked like blood was seeping out of his eyes, but after taking a quick sniff she noted they didn't smell like blood.

Even with this change, she didn't hesitate to pull him into a tight hug. As a dam broke and Izuku burst out in crimson tears, she could hear him whimpering. ''I-I'm sorry mommy. I'm so-sorry…''

Inko's heart broke a little, she wanted to cry just as much as her son; wallow in how unfortunate this is. But she had to be strong, for the both of them. She decided the day he got hurt she would make sure she never failed him, she would help her son through this.

''It's fine dear, there's nothing to be sorry for.'' She whispered reassuringly.

This went on for a while: Inko telling her son it was okay, and that it would be alright, while Izuku cried his now crimson eyes out. Until half an hour later the boy had fallen asleep in her arms, the fatigue of barfing out his food and crying for an extended period of time finally catching up to him, as he rested in his mothers loving hug.

Inko was glad she had stayed somewhat in shape as she had to carry her son up the stairs to his room, tucking him in and kissing him goodnight as she wiped away his red tears.

With a heavy heart, she wiped away her own tears as she grabbed the house phone, dialed the number she had received that day, and pressed call.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on, I’ll be posting chapters twice a week, so you guys get to read the story faster. The schedule until we’re caught up should be one chapter on Wednesday and one on either Saturday or Sunday, look forward to new chapters then.
> 
> I also really appreciate all the support so far, I love reading and responding to comments and seeing the hits and kudos accumulate, so keep them coming!
> 
> See y’all Wednesday!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katsuki worries for his friend.  
> Siblings have a late night squabble.  
> And Izuku has a bad morning.

* * *

**To ~~Suffer~~ Adapt**

* * *

Katsuki could not for the life of him sleep, even though he had been put to bed ages ago. The digital All Might clock on his desk next to his night light said it was '00:38' but he had to shamefully admit he had no idea what that really meant, he still hadn't learned how to read the time yet.

His mother had bought the clock for him as a joke when Mitsuki and Inko had gone on a joined shopping spree and had taken both of their kids with them, they had come across a few All Might clocks on sale and Izuku had mentioned he still didn't know how to properly read them. Katsuki felt the need to impress his friend and had told him he could, he remembered the conversation vividly, since in retrospect he realized how stupid it was of him to do.

Izuku seemed to believe him though and was impressed in his typical naïve manner, Mitsuki had to do her absolute best to stifle her laughter when Katsuki vaguely started to 'explain' to his friend how it worked. At one point he had rambled something about 'connecting with the clock' that had caused even Inko to let out a snort. _It must've been really bad if even auntie Inko had to laugh…_ He recalled awkwardly.

In the end Mitsuki had insisted on buying one of the All Might clocks for her 'little clock connoisseur' at which point Izuku had also asked his mom for one, so he could learn how to tell the time and 'connect with the clock just like Kacchan', Katsuki had just given up and said nothing at that point.

They ended up getting matching clocks however, which was nice.

He wouldn't admit to anyone that he had actually grown rather fond of the clock, and that he couldn't really get rid of the thing after that, despite the incredibly cringeworthy experience that preceded its purchase. It was something his mother still teased him about to this day.

Even if the memory was extremely awkward for Katsuki, he had really enjoyed that day. Izuku was a really great friend, and they were practically brothers at this point, the green haired boy was the only one who truly understood him after all. Most people just write Katsuki off as a brat who simply has the brains to back his rudeness up, or as an annoyance who has a knack for trouble. But Izuku knows he's more than just that, Katsuki never directly told him how he really felt about the whole situation, but Izuku had picked up on it wordlessly.

Since Katsuki was a relatively late bloomer quirk-wise he felt he had to compensate in other areas, which caused the other kids to think of him as a smart-ass. Izuku understood how it felt to be looked down upon for something you worked hard for since they were both late in getting their quirks and academically smarter than the most in their class. Add to that the fact they share a gigantic love fore heroes and that they basically grew up together and you get an inseparable duo.

It was only natural for the children of two best friends to become best friends, Katsuki supposed.

Inko really was like an aunt to him, she always cared for him like she would for Izuku and was fun to talk to. She could somehow be a crybaby while also kind, smart and strong willed when she has to be, Katsuki respected her for that and he could easily understand how Mitsuki and Inko could be best friends.

However a huge part of that respect also came from having experienced an angry Inko, and he did _not_ want to think about angry Inko.

He still wanted to be able to sleep after all.

A shudder went down the blond's spine.

God was Katsuki glad that Izuku hadn't inherited that trait from his mom, though now that he thought about it, Izuku has never really been truly angry before. Any anger he might feel instantly transforms into him crying his eyes out or just bottling it all up Katsuki had realized, Mitsuki would jokingly call it the 'Midoriya-special'. Jokes aside, the young blonde decided that he'd rather have his friend be a crybaby than a ticking time bomb.

Speaking of bombs, Katsuki looked at his still bandaged hands.

 _Ugh, why do I still have to keep these on for 3 more days? I just got my quirk darn it! I want to use it!_ He inadvertently blinked at that thought, it still hadn't really set in that he really had a quirk now. He developed it 4 days ago and only got to use it for two days before he basically temporarily crippled his hands, he hadn't regretted it one bit though. That bastard got what he deserved, for hurting both him and Izuku.

He balled his hands into fists at the thought and winced _. Okay, maybe I regret it a little._ His hands still stung a little from the burns. He probably wouldn't have been capable of doing it if it weren't for the copious amount of adrenaline that had been going through his body and Izuku jumping in at the last moment to give him an opening.

Now that he properly thought about it, he realized he hadn't really considered what happened to his friend properly. When he went to bite Misaki he seemed much more different, it was probably the closest he had seen Izuku to being actually angry.

Despite the doctor not believing him, he knew for a fact Izuku's eyes had changed in some way, though he wasn't entirely sure if he'd imagined his friend tearing a whole piece off of Misaki's arm or if it actually happened.

What was surprising was the fact that Izuku had looked fine when he woke up, other than being a little tired and looking like crap and having cooties…

... Maybe he wasn't fine at all, but from the amount he got to talk to him he could tell it was regular old Izuku. He wished he could've properly said goodbye though, his mom had dragged him home before he could say anything.

They'd have enough time to talk later, the school closed for a week to deal with the incident. So they would have at least 3 days to catch up, he'd just ask his mom if he could go to Izuku's house tomorrow. He wouldn't be able to wake up early enough if he didn't sleep now though, so he closed his eyes, and imagined how cool of a duo they will be when Izuku finally gets his quirk.

It took a little while, but he could slowly feel sleep taking him, as he finally dozed off. He dreamed of heroes and villains.

* * *

"I told you already, this case is confidential, like they _always_ are." An adult man said, exasperation clear in his voice as he spoke into his phone.

"Oh come on Naomasa! Just tell me _something_ , one thing. I promise I won't tell anyone!" A young female voice responded through the phone loudly, not willing to give up on the matter.

The detective Tsukauchi Naomasa couldn't help but sigh at his sister's determination, she _knew_ he wasn't allowed to tell her information on cases he's working on yet she always persists. He would admire her determination if it wasn't such a _pain_ to have to deal with her incessant phone calls and texts whenever she caught him lying about whether he was working on a case or not.

Sometimes he wished lie detector quirks didn't run through his family, ignoring that it was a bit hypocritical considering he used one himself.

He looked at his wristwatch absentmindedly during his sister's rambling on why he should tell her, and noted that it was already nearing one o'clock midnight, he really needed to go to sleep, and the only way to do that would be to appease his sister, he realized glumly.

Naomasa had thought out his options well, technically, he could just hang up right now and end her questioning. The problem with that was that he knew for a fact she would just head to his apartment to knock on his door until he opened just to spite him.

He cursed his past self for the fatal oversight of suggesting his sister move into the same apartment complex as him, when she said she would be going to a high school near him, as it made the trip from her apartment to his less than 5 minutes, and had thus effectively put him within walking distance for her to torment him about his cases anytime she felt like it.

Her text's had been a pain, but having to deal with her _physically_ was much somehow so much worse, especially since it allowed her to use her quirk on him. He supposed he could now do the same, but it's not like she had anything important to hide from him, so it was quite useless.

His second and only option that involved actually getting any sleep: just telling her. He knew he wasn't really supposed to, especially considering that _He_ might somehow be involved in this mess. And that _his_ potential involvement was the entire reason he was even bothering on this case, but he also _really_ needed his sleep.

Finally he resolved to only tell her select parts that didn't have anything to do with _him_. _I usually don't tell her everything anyways, so nothing's new._

"Fine, I'll tell you a little. But if I catch word you've been spilling beans you'll be in trouble, you know that." He said this every time, and she hasn't really told anyone about the cases to his knowledge, so it was more of a habit than a warning.

He could hear her huff through the phone. "You know I won't, now tell me! I heard it happened in a school? Did a kid get hurt or something?"

"I won't bother asking where you got the info from but yeah, that's about half of it." Tsukauchi glanced at the case report on the table in front of him. "Two kids got hurt in an accident when an object fell on one of them, the object in question was property of one 'Korone Misaki' who was a teacher ther-."

"Okay so a it was an accident, I don't see why they would need a detective for that." She sounded disappointed as she interrupted her brother rudely.

"Makoto!" He snapped at her, his fuse only growing shorter the longer he went without sleep. "Let me finish first, you were the one that wanted to hear what happened"

"…" Makoto said nothing but Tsukauchi knew her well enough to know she had probably nodded to herself mutely, one of her weird traits. "Alright then, if you have questions wait till I'm done." He cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, Misaki Korone's vase dropped on a kids head. If that was all that had happened I wouldn't have been required, but mister Misaki here thought it a suitable punishment to assault the boys in the presence of the rest off the class."

"O-oh…" She muttered, tone changing from disappointed to concerned in a heartbeat. "Are they alright?" 

"One of the two got out of it with damage mostly resulting from pushing his own quirk too much, so he should be fine. For the one who got hit by the vase we weren't so sure at the moment. The object had actually weighed quite a lot, so we were fearing for the worst."

He heard a sharp inhale.

"But I got called in today by one of the doctors, and it seems the kid miraculously not only survived but will not have any lingering damage from the injury."

"That's _great!_ And impressive, his quirk must've been pretty awesome for him to get out of that situation unscathed." Makoto remarked, happy to know a child wasn't permanently injured or god forbid dead.

The detective decided it better to leave out the detail that the kid had been quirkless at the time—it would just result in more questioning, and he craved sleep. "Yeah, they were both unharmed in the end, but that's mostly thanks to their actual teacher knocking the deviant out before he could pull something"

"What do you think was his intent? Were you able to discern that at least?"

One thing Tsukauchi appreciated is that while his sister might bug him about his cases a lot, more often than not she would at least try to help when the case is simple enough. While uncommon, there have been a few times where she had pointed out something he hadn't realized which ended up being an important clue.

Sometimes two heads are better than one, but he would never make the mistake of telling her that. _I'm positive she would never leave me alone then…_ He concluded mentally, inwardly cringing while imagining the scenario.

"I still haven't had the opportunity to question him if that's what you're asking. The teacher- his name is Teruko, " He read off of the report quickly. "had used his quirk to knock him out and had apparently used a little more output power than necessary, which was relatively understandable considering the situation. Misaki is going to be knocked out for at least a week according to Teruko, which would be in about three to four days now." Annoyance leaked through his voice somewhat.

It sucked that the questioning had to be delayed until the piece of scum woke up, but Tsukauchi knew he would've probably reacted the same way the teacher had if he was in a similar scenario with a lunatic threatening to do something severe in the presence of children, especially if his theory was proven to be true.

He lamented the fact his quirk did not work on unconscious people.

Makoto had stayed silent after that, most likely processing the information she just received, before she spoke up. "You sound impatient to question him." She said matter-of-factly. "I get that he did something pretty messed up, but I don't see why you would feel the need to question him so quickly, unless there's something you're not telling me?" She asked in her tone that implied she wouldn't try to dig deeper if he didn't want to tell her. Even she knew she couldn't expect her brother to just tell her every detail, but she just wanted to help at this point.

Tsukauchi was a little surprised. _Did I really sound that irritated about it?_ He hadn't realized, truth to be told however he _was_ a little frustrated, the man was a lot more suspicious than he appeared to be when they finally did a background check on him. When they went through the belongings he'd had on him at the time, their suspicions had been proven correct; That man was definitely not innocent and might even be associated with _him._ It was safe to say he would not be getting out of this without punishment, the principal would most likely also be in trouble.

They'd have to actually question Misaki and go through his phone for evidence before they jumped to any conclusions.

"Well? Wait, you didn't fall asleep, _did you?_ " Makoto's frantic voice broke him out of his thoughts, he winced slightly as he moved the phone away from his ear. _Right, I guess I can tell her at least a little._

"N-no, I'm not asleep, just thinking is all." Tsukauchi could not see it, but Makoto frowned at that. "When we looked through his belongings we found quite some stuff, aside from a questionable amount of cash in his wallet, his phone, keys and his ID we found three marble-like objects stored away in a well hidden pocket in his jacket."

"Marble-like? Not just marbles?"

The detective smiled a tad proudly at his sister's attentiveness. "While they are similar to marbles in size and shape, we determined it was a little odd for a grown man to be keeping three of them carefully tucked away in a hidden pocket, so we decided to scan it."

"Maybe it was a family heirloom or something? For good luck." She appeared to be joking, or at least he hoped that was the case.

"Don't play devil's advocate now…" He groaned. "Of course they weren't innocent toys Makoto, the scans showed the things were _oozing_ with quirk-factor."

"Which means?"

"It means the things are the product of a quirk, someone basically made those things using their ability."

"Okay?" Tsukauchi could hear in her voice that she did not seem convinced. "That's cool and all but I don't see how this really proves anything or pushes the case forward."

The detective hummed understandingly, he had thought the same until they had done a proper background check and did more digging. While those 'marbles' seemed innocent, they were definitely not, they ended up being enough evidence to convict the man after all.

"Makoto, this man's records say he's supposed to be quirkless."

Sudden realization flushed over her as she let out an 'ohhh', indicating she had understood. "Yeah that's pretty suspicious, do you know whose quirk it might be and why he would have such a thing?"

Tsukauchi clicked his tongue at her playfully, he would've wagged his finger at her if she had been with him. "You're jumping too far ahead, have you considered that mister 'Misaki' might not even be who he wants us to think he is?"

Makoto let out a gasp. "A fake identity? Did you find definitive proof?"

"We have enough reason to believe it's possible to warrant digging deeper." He wouldn't elaborate more on that, he simply eyed a file holding information on a certain gang. "And as for your questions before that; yes, and kinda."

He shifted in his chair as he reached over for a witness report from one of the older kids who had been there during Misaki's outburst.

The girl in question had been rather shaken from what occurred, but her quirk had been exceptionally helpful; she was like a living voice recorder, with the ability to store any sounds she hears and play them, she has a limit of about 40 seconds and is able to produce the tape out of her arms.

She had made the spur of the moment decision to record what Misaki had been saying when she saw the crowd of younger children gathering around, which meant they had definitive proof of anything incriminating he had said during his outrage.

For that he was somewhat glad the children had gathered around, if only because in the end one had just the right quirk to aid the investigation. _But I suppose a quirk with inbuilt cameras would've also been nice._ He joked internally.

Somewhere, a certain journalist sneezed.

"We have an idea as to who's the one who created the marbles, but that information is strictly confidential, don't bother asking." Makoto sighed dejectedly but didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue. "And since we basically know who the orbs originated from we can also guess what Misaki's purpose had been, though I'm going to have to interrogate him before we know for sure."

"All I'll tell you is that he definitely did not work at that school with the intent of teaching the children." A loud yawn escaped him as he stretched a little and checked his watch. "Mako-chan, it's already one thirty, you have stuff to do tomorrow, so do I…" She groaned in response, knowing where this would be going

"So. It's. Time. To. Sleep." His tone carried finality, even while using the seemingly playful nickname, Makoto knew better though. He only called her that when he was really done arguing.

"Geez, you're no fun." Faux annoyance clear in her voice. "Alright then 'big bro', I'll see you tomorrow. You better wake up early~"

Her voice was abnormally sweet.

Tsukauchi shivered at the covert threat, he would not be left alone tomorrow. He considered retorting, but decided he'd cut his losses for now. _I'll just deal with her then…_

"Bye, don't forget to brush your teeth."

"Oh my god, I'm not a kid." She huffed indignantly. "Go sleep old man." She jabbed back snarkily. Tsukauchi chuckled as he ended the call. _She definitely has the same bite mom does._

He looked fondly at the picture on his wall, it was Makoto during her middle school graduation. She had a beaming smile on her face, one filled with confidence and determination, but also with joy.

He turned to the evidence on the table and his face shifted from relaxed to one of steely resolve.

He wouldn't allow that _monster_ to take her smile away, sleep could wait a little _._

Filled with newfound determination, he opened his phone and went through his contact list. _I know I should probably wait till tomorrow, but I doubt Makoto will give me the chance. Plus I don't think I'll have to worry about him not picking up_. He found the contact he'd been looking for, and pressed call.

It ringed for a few seconds, long enough for Tsukauchi to question if his contact was already asleep. Until the call connected at last.

"Tsukauchi-kun? Is there something wrong?" The voice was deep, perhaps intimidating to some, but also undeniably friendly and kind.

"Yagi-san," He took a breath. "I have concrete evidence pointing to _his_ involvement in the case"

The voice was quiet for a moment, pensive, before speaking again with a fiery determination far surpassing Tsukauchi's clear in his voice.

"Alright, tell me what you found."

* * *

Izuku had a rough awakening that morning.

When he woke up he found he'd fallen out of his bed, sleeping in a very uncomfortable position, squashing his arms under his body weight. Sitting up revealed the red outlines marking them, he groaned as he felt the stiffness in his joints resulting from the unhealthy position he'd somehow ended up in.

As he finally stood up he realized how tired he felt, like he hadn't just slept a good 9 hours. The fatigue was accompanied by a churning stomach and an aching head.

All in all, he felt like actual garbage. Even more so than the last time he woke up.

He honestly just wanted to go back to bed.

So he tried falling back asleep but felt his aching body wouldn't allow him to, so he just got up from his bed, heading to the bathroom. Hoping a splash of water and a drink would spare him of some of the pain. He could tell it was still pretty early in the day by the morning sunlight peaking through the windows, and with his now enhanced hearing he could also hear his mom's steady breathing coming from her bedroom.

But now he stood frozen in place as he regarded himself in the bathroom mirror, staring incredulously at the black and red eyes peering back at him. _I… my eyes…_

Panic started to seep into him as he got closer to the mirror and took in his rather ghastly eyes more closely. _Why… wh-why are they like this? What-what do I do? Is this? What is- I don't…_

_'Your eyes might shift in color because of your quirk.'_

"No wait." Izuku started muttering. "The doctor said this was my quirk, he said my eyes might change colors. This is supposed to happen, I'm not gonna go blind or something, it's alright."

Now having calmed down exponentially he analyzed his mirror image thoroughly, mumbling to himself along the way.

"I look really bad." He cringed at his messy and unhealthy appearance. "My skin is pale, my hair looks oily and my lips are chapped. And my eyes…"

"They… they look kinda creepy, but also cool. Are those veins?" He leaned in as close as he could without smudging the mirror, viewing the thin crimson lines that connect from his pupils to the lids of his eyes.

Backing away from the mirror he put his hand on his chin, thinking to himself audibly about what his quirk entailed.

"The doctor said my quirk did a lot of things: it increased my senses, my regeneration and to an extent my durability. Maybe some other things too…" He unconsciously left out the dietary problems it caused him; he wanted to explore the positive parts of his quirk, not worry about whether he would ever be capable of eating again.

After a moment of thought he came to a conclusion. "This is probably a bad idea but I want to test it a little, see what I can do with it."

With that he quickly washed his face with some cold water and headed for the kitchen to get a glass off water, being extra careful to not wake his mom. He knew had to do this alone, his mom would probably not like to what extent he was planning on testing his quirk.

Walking into the living room Izuku looked around. "Alright," He walked towards the sofa and sat down, deep in though as he considered how he would test the properties of his quirk. "where do I begin…"

He considered what the doctor had told him about his quirk for a little while as he lounged on the couch. "He had said my body became tougher, does that mean my skin is just harder or that my body is stronger now?" He stood up. "I guess there's one way to find out"

Eagerly, he sneaked through the hallways of his house past his mother's room towards their storage closet. _It should be around here somewhere_. Making sure he didn't start thinking out loud or make too much sound while he was closer to his mother, he started silently digging through the shelves. _I think it was in a box somewhere? Mom put it away when I tried playing with it last time… There it is!_

In one of the boxes he found what looked to be a relatively small, old, worn out pink dumbbell, the number indicating the weight had been scuffed off by use. Izuku immediately went to lift it, which to his surprise, went much more easier than the last time he had tried it. In fact, he was capable of slightly lifting it above his head with some strain. _I could barely lift it last time, and that was not more than 2 months ago. My strength wouldn't normally have increased that much, but that was before my quirk!_

When he tried fully lifting it above his head however he started to wobble in place, the dumbbell causing him to lose balance. "Oh." He'd managed to stammer out dumbly as he started falling back.

With a rather loud crash, which (to Izuku's dazed chagrin) resounded throughout the entire house, Izuku fell roughly on some of the boxes.

After the crash, followed a contrasting silence only broken by a pained groan coming from the boy now on the ground. Izuku started getting up sluggishly to view the damage he had inflicted with his crash landing.

It seemed he had fallen on some of the boxes, though fortunately nothing had broken. He was about to let out a sigh of relief until he went to move the boxes back in place and noticed a shimmer of light reflecting off of something.

It was the blade of a wood-saw poking out of the cardboard box that had been to his right, he went to open the box to find it was filled with rather sharp tools ranging from the aforementioned saw to multiple screwdrivers and shears, some rusty while others looking relatively new.

He gulped nervously. "That could've ended badly." Had he fallen even slightly to the side he would've landed on what might as well be a box filled with knives, with nothing more than a thin cardboard layer to protect him

To make matters even worse, he could hear panicked breathing coming from his mother's room as the door handle was twisted in a haste.

He was in for it now.

"IZUKU!?" Her concerned cry didn't do more than hurt his sensitive ears. "BABY WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU HURT? WHAT HAPPENED?"

Taking a breath, Izuku prepared himself to confront his mother in her fright induced state. _I'll just tell her I'm fine, because I am, so there's nothing to worry about. The fall didn't even hurt that much…_

Finally he reluctantly stepped out of the closet to call out to her. "M-mom, I'm here. I'm fine." His voice didn't sound as confident as he'd meant it to be.

Inko turned instantly, looking for her child until she went around the corner to lay her eyes upon Izuku. She seemed to scan over him for a few seconds, eyes still wide.

"Izuku what happened? What was that sound?" She instantly moved towards him.

"I'm fine, I just fell. That's all." To prove his point he put up his arms and turned around. "See? I'm just a little dizzy from the fall."

Confident he'd gotten his point across Izuku turned back to his mother, only to be met with an even more panicked face. Confused at his mother's remaining distress Izuku followed her line of sight, she was looking at his right arm. _Why is she looking at my arm like that? There's nothing wrong with…_

On the back of his arm was a long thin gash, Izuku froze as he regarded the trail of blood he'd left on the ground with his crimson eyes allowing him to see them with more detail than he'd like. The wound was still bleeding profusely, and he could now feel the sting of the wound on his arm now that he knew it was there, how had he not noticed or smelled it before? The only explanation he could think of is that he must've been too preoccupied with making sure nothing was broken to notice the wound himself, he's had that type of tunnel vision before.

As if broken out of her daze Inko carefully grabbed her son's left hand to drag him to the bathroom. "Midoriya Izuku what the _hell_ did you do to end up with such injury on your arm?" She wasn't yelling anymore, but her voice was definitely tinged with anger and concern. Izuku scrambled to answer her as he was lead to the bathroom, but was interrupted before he had the chance.

" _Stay here_ and wash the wound with lukewarm water while I get the Med-Kit, _don't_ touch it even if it feels itchy and keep the wound away from anywhere dirty, understood?" She commanded as she stormed off to get the Med-Kit, wherever that was.

Izuku could only nod obtusely, crimson eyes wide as he almost robotically grabbed a stool to properly reach the sink and turn on the tap water, adjusting the temperature to be slightly warm like his mother had told him to. With slight hesitation he put his wounded arm under the running water, he let out a hiss of pain as the water washed over the wound. As the pain started to subside his frustrations were starting to grow.

"What's with my luck? First I get hit on the head by a vase and attacked by a crazy old man, then I'm hospitalized and I apparently get a quirk that doesn't even allow me to eat normally." His eyes were getting teary as he vented out his bottled up frustrations to his mirror image while barely bothering to rinse the wound.

"Then I wake up feeling like crap while my eyes make me look like I'm some kind of monster, and when I try to cheer myself up by finding out how my quirk works I fall because I can't even lift a stupid weight and get cut on some stupid equipment! Where was my 'strong durability'? Or my 'abnormal healing'?' He could feel red stained tears rolling down his cheeks. " _Nowhere!_ Th-this dumb stupid quirk won't even allow me to eat normally, how am I gonna eat candy with Kacchan? Or eat my mom's yummy Katsudon when it makes me want to p-puke. And what do I get in exchange f-for not being able to eat? A _garbage_ quirk that barely does **anything**! I-I'd rather just be q-quirkless…"

His nose was becoming runny, his anger was turning into genuine sorrow as his tears colored his white T shirt red. "And- And now I get this dumb stupid wound on… my arm?"

Izuku was left speechless, any anger or sadness he felt instantly vanishing as he finally averted his eyes from the mirror to his wounded arm.

Or rather, _formerly_ wounded arm, because the wound had nearly vanished entirely. "Wh-What the-" Izuku stammered in shock as he pulled his arm from the running water and nearly took a step back,. Which would've resulted in him falling off the stool he was standing on.

"Izuku what are you doing! I told you to keep the wound under water." Inko finally came bursting through the bathroom door, holding a white box with a red cross on it; the Med-Kit. "I brought the Med-Kit, now sit down on the stool so I can properly disinfect and bandage the wound."

Izuku now shaken out of his stupor looked at his mom wide eyed. "M-mom the-"

" _No_. I don't want to hear _anything_ ," She interrupted him, her signature no-nonsense icy edge entering her voice, "I need to disinfect it and put bandages around it. It's _not_ up for debate, _Midoriya._ "

Inko rarely had to be this firm with her son, but when the situation called for it she would not hesitate to be as stern as she can be. She had seen him come out of the storage closet, which meant the possibility he was cut on one of the rusty tools was rather large. She cursed herself for not hiding the tools properly, but she also would _not_ take the risk of him getting an infection just because he didn't want her to apply alcohol. For once she was happy they had an appointment with doctor Kanou today.

Izuku blanched at her tone, his mom was _not_ happy with him, that didn't require a detective to figure out. And him not cooperating was not helping her mood he realized. _She'll have to see it for herself if she won't listen, I don't want to get yelled at any longer._ So Izuku promptly got off the stool and sat on it as Inko crouched next to him while opening the Med-Kit and pulling a bottle of alcohol out.

"Okay I'm going to disinfect the wound with some alcohol, it'll sting a little but you'll have to bear with it. After that I'll bandage it and we'll be heading out to meet doctor Kanou, we have an appointment at around ten thirty, so we have about 45 minutes to get there, alright?"

She couldn't help but sigh when Izuku didn't say a thing in response, the boy looked to be lost in thought as he stared at nothing in particular, his crimson eyes and now red stained T shirt were a little unnerving to her but she did her best to ignore it. He's being cooperative now, so she can afford to loosen up a bit.

"Okay sweetie," Izuku now properly looked at her at the mention of the affectionate name. She did her best not to shiver now that his crimson orbs stared into her own forest green ones.

 _The same color his should normally be_.

She shook that thought out of her head as she continued. "Now show me the wound, I need to disinfect it before any bacteria can get in, if that happened it would be very bad."

Izuku nodded and shifted so he could show her better, she opened the bottle and put some of the alcohol on the cotton swab. She still hadn't properly taken a look at the boy's now almost fully-healed arm. "Okay, show me where it is." And so Izuku did, he raised his arm turning it so she could properly see where the injury _should_ have been.

Inko simply blinked, "Um, honey I think that's the wrong arm. It's not here."

"It is mom, look closely." Izuku finally said.

Inko was starting to lose her patience. "See what? What are you talking about?"

Now it was Izuku's turn to blink at her owlishly, she noticed it looked strangely cute with his crimson pupils, they seemed more… expressive? She couldn't put her finger on it. "You mean you can't see the wound close up?"

Inko, now no longer distracted by her son's 'cute' eyes decided to look closer. Inching towards his skin as she searched for anything out of the ordinary.

"Oh my god…" When she looked really closely she could see the healing in action. What seemed to be threads of what she could only assume was blood arching, knitting together to close up the wound. It looked unnatural for a liquid to be moving like that, yet it was happening right in front of her eyes. Granted, she could barely see it even after getting as close as she could, but her eyes were not deceiving her.

She looked at the area where the wound used to be.

"Not even a scar…" She whispered disbelievingly, it was certainly surprising, but also welcome. She'd rather her child not have a nasty scar he'd have to live with the rest of his live. Speaking of her child, she looked up again to meet his eyes again. "Can you properly see what's happening?"

"Yeah, I can see the wound closing and the weird red string things really clearly, I can also slightly feel it, It's like a tingly feeling." He flexed his arm a little. "When I focus on it I think I can speed it up or slow it down a bit, but I can't fully stop it." He replied.

They stood there, silently watching the wound heal until it had disappeared entirely, Inko took a look at her watch. They'd been sitting there for almost 5 minutes just watching the wound disappear in awe. _It must've taken about 10 minutes in total for a pretty nasty laceration to heal entirely, maybe this quirk of his is not as much of a curse as I had dreaded it would be._

Inko could definitely live with her son having such an impressive regenerative quirk. But—

The silence was broken suddenly as a loud grumbling noise was heard through the bathroom, coming from none other than Izuku. He seemed to pale as he put a hand on his stomach, he looked at his mother with frantic eyes. "I-I think the healing made me even more hungry, it must have taken more energy than I thought." Inko nodded grimly.

—with the inability to eat, not so much. She liked to think it wasn't hopeless, when she'd called the doctor last night after putting Izuku to sleep, he seemed to have expected that this would be the outcome and told her to come to the hospital again today. Inko just hoped it was because the doctor had found a solution or some good news, she wasn't sure her heart could take much more bad news.

"Sweetie, we need to get ready to meet Kanou-san." Inko changed the topic. _Thinking about his appetite will only make him more hungry._ She turned to lead him out of the bathroom, but took in his disheveled appearance and his discolored shirt. "How about you take a quick shower? I'll put the towel and a change of clothes here while you're busy."

Izuku simply nodded mutely, eyes focused on nothing as he was lost in thought yet again, but this time a small frown adorning his round face. Inko smiled wryly, her son really was a deep thinker. _Just like his father_.

While leaving the bathroom she absentmindedly wondered when the next time he would come back would be, she hoped when he did he would find a normal healthy Izuku.

She went to prepare clothes for her son and herself.

* * *

The trip to the hospital was mostly uneventful.

Mostly.

Inko practically had to drag Izuku outside, it was rather sunny and the boy said the sunlight hurt his eyes. Only after coaxing him by telling him it was only because his eyes had to get used to being outside (And were not being burned by the 'radiation coming off the sun') and promising he'd be allowed to sit in the front seat did she manage to get him to leave the front door.

He kept his eyes shut on their way to the car and got a few odd looks from some walking bystanders, but loosened up when they reached the vehicle. Halfway through the trip his eyes seemed to have fully accustomed to the outside light, as he was letting out squeaks of amazement at how far he could see, how nice everything looked and how loud everything was.

He did complain about a faint oily odor, to which Inko amusedly told him Mitsuki usually sat there whenever they took Inko's car to work, and that he must be smelling the special type of sweat she secreted.

Izuku turned a little red at the explanation and refrained from mentioning the smell again, while Inko had to hold back her giggles. It was impressive he could tell there was something different at all, Inko couldn't smell anything even if she tried searching for the scent.

In comfortable silence they reached the hospital, she wasted no time getting in and asking for doctor Kanou at the reception, they were told to wait in the waiting room as they went to get the doctor. When they went to sit in the waiting room Inko noticed Izuku got some curious looks from the staff and other people waiting, she realized they were probably drawn to his abnormal eye coloration and were comparing them to her normal eyes.

While it wasn't necessarily extremely rare for people to be born with abnormal eye colors these days, Inko understood that Izuku's eyes still looked rather different. To have red eyes was relatively common, but his eyes were almost mesmerizing to look into, it was a shade of crimson Inko had never seen before. As for people with black sclera, Inko could count on only one hand how many people she has met with that trait.

Add both of these together and you get a fascinating if not intimidating combination, looking both dangerous and beautiful at the same time. Inko pondered if his eyes would always stay like this, the doctor had said his eyes could shift like this and that they would enhance his vision. But Izuku has had them since last evening, it was safe to say he woke up with them like that too. She was slightly worried she would never get to see his brilliant green orbs again, but decided not to jump to conclusions as she saw doctor Kanou enter the waiting room.

He looked around the room while adjusting his red glasses, probably scanning for the Midoriya family, until he finally found them. He walked towards them as he nodded at Inko in acknowledgement, when his eyes fell on the mop of green beside her his eyes widened (in… recognition?) at the sight of Izuku's crimson orbs.

It lasted only for a second as he seemed to nod to himself, as if he had just confirmed something. Inko thought the reaction to be a little weird but didn't pay much attention to it. When he got to them he had a small smile on his face, it didn't seem fake so Inko at least knew she would probably not be hearing any terrible news.

"Midoriya-san" He said civilly, putting out his hand for her to shake which she took. "It's good to see you again, or I suppose it's not, considering this is a hospital after all." Inko chuckled softly at the polite joke, while Izuku just rolled his eyes a little, deadpanning at the 'old people' humor.

"And Izuku-kun, it seems Bakugou-kun was right about his observations concerning your eyes after all." He whistled softly. "I've got to say, they look really cool. I've never seen that shade of red before, and I've seen my fair share of exotic eye colors, impressive!" He smiled as he complimented the boy genuinely.

Izuku couldn't help but blush a little at the praise, he was feeling a little insecure about his eyes at the moment, especially considering how everyone was staring at him just now. He wasn't used to the attention, but the compliment was nice. "Y-yeah, thank you." He managed to mutter in response, in a panic he suddenly felt he had to say something back.

"Your eyes are also great." He added without thinking

He wanted to punch himself.

Inko stifled a laugh as Kanou let out a light chuckle. Only fueling Izuku's growing embarrassment. Vanishing off the face of the planet sounded _really_ appealing all of a sudden

Meanwhile his mother was honestly a little impressed at how easily the doctor had managed to lift their moods, she figured he must have had to deal with a lot of children and worrying adults during his years working at the hospital. _Does he specialize in treating children? Wouldn't be surprising._

"Thank you Izuku, I really appreciate it." He smiled kindly at the tomato-faced boy. "But I think it's about time we got to the reason you two are here. If you two would follow me, we'll be heading to my office to discuss it."

The mood of the two Midoriya's couldn't have dampened quicker. The doctor, noticing this, gave them a reassuring look. "Don't worry, it'll be mostly good news, I'm convinced I have a solution for Izuku-kun's eating problems. I'll tell you more in my office, so let's make haste." He turned and started walking down the hallway. The Midoriya's followed shortly after, spirits lifted at the promise of good news.

During their traversal of the almost maze like hallway structure, Izuku could feel his stomach start to grumble rather violently once they passed by the operating rooms. _Why is my stomach acting up now of all places? Is it because of the sterile smell? Or is it one of the multiple odd scents I can't put my finger on…_

Izuku was left even more confused as the violent grumbling started to go away once they left the vicinity of the operating rooms. _Why did it stop now? Maybe the sterile smell is making my stomach act up now that my nose is stronger, I guess it would make sense. Operating rooms are really sterile after all._

Before he could speculate any more he noticed the doctor had stopped in front of a door, presumably his office. "Alright, here we are. This is my office, please come on in." Inserting his key into the lock and twisting the handle, Kanou held the door open for them.

Izuku entered first, viewing the room with interest. It was a lot less white and a bit larger than he had expected it to be, it was a warm combination of orange and brown. With large brown bookcases covering a large portion of both sides of the walls, where there was no bookcase Izuku could see drawers with books and typical doctor tools and some diplomas and medical posters hanging on the walls.

When he looked to his right he could see a relatively thin hospital bed about 2 meters (6.5 feet) removed from the door, near the bed were multiple different measurement equipment and a drawer. On the left, opposite of the door was Kanou's desk tucked somewhat snugly in the corner with one office chair and three normal wooden ones on the other side, on his desk was a computer and that tablet he had used yesterday along with what he assumed was paperwork. Izuku decided to take a look through the large window nearly spanning over the entire width of the back wall, the view was amazing especially now that his quirk increased his sight.

Izuku thought it was a really nice office.

"You like the view?" Kanou asked, amused by the child's interest of the outside view as he followed Inko inside.

Izuku was still peering through the window, trying to see if he could count the amount of kids playing in the nearby park. "Yeah, I can see really far now, further than I could see before. So there's a lot of things I can spot now that I wouldn't normally, it's fun."

"That's interesting" Kanou hummed in agreement. "But I agree, I chose this office all the way on the sixth floor for a reason, the view is nice and it's a bit more quiet on this floor compared to the lower ones. This room is also a bit larger, but don't tell the other doctors that." He said playfully.

The boy smiled. "I won't."

"Thank you, it'll be our secret." He nodded at Inko. "Now then, I think your mother has been waiting for a while now, why don't you take a seat so I can tell you two about what I found that could help you with your... food problems." Kanou sat down in his chair as he gestured at one of the chairs opposite of him.

Izuku promptly moved away from the window to sit next to his mother, Inko gave the doctor a grateful smile. She was happy her son was curious about the view but she was about to burst with anticipation.

"Okay, now that we are all seated, I'll tell you the results of my research on your quirk."

* * *

**Chapter Notes.**

Sorry for the late chapter!

I know I promised updates on Wednesday and in the weekend, but school ended up taking more time than had I initially expected for this week. Considering I reread the chapters and iron out any spelling mistakes or awkward sentences, it actually takes some time to post chapters individually. (I know I could just copy paste, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this, I just can't help it...)

I'm still not sure how exactly the draft system on this site works, but if it works the way I think it does, I should be able to just edit them ahead of time and just post the chapters instantly, so I'll try to do that from now on!


	4. (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hell breaks loose in the Bakugou household. 
> 
> All the while Izuku learns about his mysterious quirk, and it’s tragic history...

* * *

**True Nature ~~Unleashed~~ Revealed**

* * *

"What do you mean he's not home?" Katsuki grumbled.

"It means what I tell you it means, kiddo." Mitsuki answered, clearly annoyed at her son's nagging. She scrubbed the dishes with growing force. "He's. Not. Home."

Inko had messaged her an hour ago about Izuku's appointment with the doctor, she didn't go too much into detail which left Mitsuki a little concerned for the little green mop of hair. But she was confident he'd be fine, he was Inko's son after all.

"I get that, you nincompoop!" He said hot-heatedly.

His bravado diminished instantly when Mitsuki sent him a sinister glare, but he soldiered on. "I want to know why he's not home,"

A tired breath escaped him as he sat down on one of the kitchen stools.

"Isn't it too early to be going outside anyways? it's only like…" He racked his brain in an attempt to quickly recall what his clock said when he woke up. "Ten? Ten something."

Mitsuki paused. "You actually bothered to learn the time somewhat?" She smirked. "That's my clock connoisseur alright, maybe buying that clock was a good idea after all."

Katsuki huffed indignantly, he wouldn't tell her it was a guess.

She continued. "But you're still wrong, it's already past eleven which is already almost noon. You woke up at around 10 o'clock, which is pretty late for you, you didn't stay up past your bedtime did you?"

Mitsuki hoped not, she didn't want to constantly have to check on him during the night to see if he was playing on one of his handhelds instead of sleeping.

_I guess I could make Masaru do it…_

Said parent was still seated at the dinner table, reading his newspaper while sipping from his already cold cup off coffee.

He'd taken the past few days off to make sure Katsuki was alright, which he soon found out was a pointless endeavor as he listened in on the classic playfully-aggressive banter between the other two Bakugou's. _I really don't have the energy to deal with those two when they are like this._

"I just couldn't sleep, that's all." Katsuki answered casually, before rapidly catching on to what she was doing and shaking his head fiercely. "Wait! Stop dodging my question you ha-"

Mitsuki's eyes shone dangerously, similarly to the knife she just so happened to be cleaning. Katsuki paled, and cleared his throat.

"Umm, I mean, could you please tell me where Izukun and auntie Inko went. Please?" The politeness was unnatural coming from the boy, Masaru thought ironically.

Mitsuki paused for brief moment; her face blank, before it turned into a dangerous grin. " _Well_ , since you're asking so politely I will tell you. People who ask nicely are more likely to get what they want after all. Isn't that right, _Masaru_?"

The man almost fell out of his chair.

"Sh- she's right y-you know!" He barely scrambled to shout from the other room rather pathetically, while using his newspaper to quickly wipe away the coffee he'd inadvertently spilled after being suddenly called upon by the fiery Bakugou.

_God almighty, she scared me shitless._

"And there you have it." Mitsuki spoke triumphantly, clearly satisfied, and clearly oblivious to the fact she'd almost delivered her husband a heart attack.

Katsuki just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You said you'd tell me, so spill it already."

Mitsuki sighed. "Still with that attitude, kids these days are so rude. Well except for Izu-chan, he's a sweetheart. And most of your classmates are also good kids… On second thought, maybe it's just you who's extremely rude."

Masaru decided for the best of his well-being to not remind Mitsuki that she used to be strikingly similar to Katsuki in terms of attitude when she was younger, only Inko could make that statement and come out alive. He didn't particularly feel like pushing his luck.

Meanwhile, Katsuki was starting to lose patience. "Mom! I know you're doing this on purpose, I asked nicely right? So just tell me already!"

"Fine, fine." She took off her apron and started drying and storing the different plates, glasses and cutlery away in their respective cabinets. "Inko-chan messaged me in the morning, Izu-chan apparently had to see the doctor about thirty minutes ago. They should already be there by now."

This was news for Masaru, he'd heard from his wife how both the boys had been injured that day, and that Izuku had been in critical condition because of what happened, not much more.

The Bakugou parents had been very concerned for Inko and her son after they found out Izuku had to be kept in the hospital. So it had been a huge relief when the boy was discharged yesterday and had not suffered any permanent physical or psychological damage.

Masaru didn't have as much opportunities to converse with the green haired boy as Katsuki or Mitsuki did (Mitsuki absolutely adores the boy, It was honestly a little concerning at times.), but thought the boy was incredibly pleasant from the few times he did. He'd been surprised to find out Izuku enjoyed classical music, while the boy had been stoked when Masaru had told him he'd wanted to become a hero before he started working in the fashion industry where he met Mitsuki, Inko and Hisashi.

Izuku was a great listener and a truly good friend and influence to Katsuki. He reminded Masaru a lot of himself when he had been younger.

 _Wait, is that why Mitsuki adores the boy so much?_ He sighed, slightly disappointed with his wife. _That's definitely in her character…_

All in all, he could only hope the appointment wasn't anything serious.

Katsuki was thinking among the same lines, but was having a harder time coming to terms with it. "Wh-what? He left yesterday didn’t he? Why would he have to go back already?"

Mitsuki's eyes softened a little at the worry in her son's voice. _Rude or not, he's still a kiddo._

"Don't worry too much sweetie, if it was something serious Inko-chan would've definitely told me about it. It's probably nothing more than a check up." She reassured him.

He blinked. "That's… good then. Did auntie Inko tell you when they'll be done?"

"No, she didn't tell me. But that's most likely because she wasn't really sure herself." Mitsuki already suspected what the motive behind that question was. "And no, you won't get to see Izu-chan afterwards. He needs to get some rest, maybe tomorrow if Inko-chan thinks it's fine."

Katsuki deflated at that and just slumped in his chair for a few seconds, before getting up and heading towards the living room.

Mitsuki watched him with amused interest as she finished drying the last cup. "Where you going?"

Katsuki looked at her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm going to record the newest episode of Demon Hunter, Izukun's gonna miss it otherwise and I don't want to have to deal with him missing the fight that's happening now."

He’d heard from the older manga reader kids that episode 19 would be awesome.

Suffice to say, he was excited.

Mitsuki however, let out a hearty cackle when she processed his explanation. "Ahaha! Right! I didn't tell you, did I?" She wiped away a tear.

"Didn't tell me what?" Katsuki asked in alarm, he recognized that laugh. When he examined her face properly he could see the familiar smug glister in her eyes.

_Oh no._

"We're going shopping today!"

He'd been correct in his assumption, it was her _'How cute. You had plans, well guess what, honey.'_ laugh.

It would be difficult getting out of this one, he realized sourly. 

But he looked back defiantly nonetheless, he'd be damned if he didn't at least try. "So? I don't care. You can go get whatever stupid dresses you want, I can just stay here with dad."

She returned the glare with an even stronger one, she was not planning on backing down easily.

"Are you deaf?" She looked at him as if he was stupid. "I clearly said _we_ didn't I? do I need to remind you what that means? It means all of us are going."

"W-well you can't just-" The toddler was growing desperate. "I-I don't remember dad agreeing to this."

"Actually," Masaru suddenly appeared through the kitchen door. "I need a new watch." He dropped a rusty wristwatch in the trashcan. "They're all labeled 'quirk proof' and all that nonsense but even just my _slightly_ acidic sweat is capable of tearing those things down every 6 months. It's getting rather annoying." He complained.

Katsuki simply responded with a strong stink-eye that screamed betrayal, his father had been his only viable way out of this boring trip to get his mom more clothes to stuff into her closet, and his father had instantly back-stabbed him.

At the withering look his son was sending him, Masaru could only give him a wry but ultimately unapologetic smile. _Sorry kiddo, but if I had to choose between angering you or your mom, I'd choose you any day of the week._

He regretted nothing.

"It's settled then, Katsuki go get dressed so we can leave. It won't be too bad, trust me." Mitsuki concluded. Masaru went over to the sink to clean his coffee cup while Mitsuki went to put away the one she was still holding in her hands.

Katsuki had lost the argument, but he begrudgingly realized he never really stood a chance, it was two against one after all.

He could feel the childish anger get the better of him as he thought about how unfair the situation had been, and his mind raced for a way to _at least_ get back at them.

In a moment of pure impulse, Katsuki spoke softly—

"Whatever, it's not like any of the dresses will fit you anyway, **_fatty_**."

—and made a terrible mistake.

Both only now processing what had been said—Katsuki and Masaru absolutely _froze,_ both praying to god the Bakugou matriarch hadn't heard what the child had irrationally muttered.

Sadly for them, god was feeling a little sadistic that day.

**Crrck**

_Wha-_

**Crrrrk**

_What the-_

**_Crrrckkkk_ **

_What is that sound?_ The male Bakugou's thought in unison, neither had moved an inch and neither could see Mitsuki's face.

**_Crckkkkcck_ **

Masaru—finally finding the courage to look at what his wife was doing—took a step towards her in an attempt to view her face.

To his horror, it looked like her face had been covered by some sort of shadow, he wasn't sure whether his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he at the very least knew it was _terrifying_. Looking at her hand instantly revealed what was causing that ungodly cracking.

**_Crck_ **

_I-It seems we're going to have to buy a new cup…_

In Mitsuki's hand was the cup she'd been holding, brutally vice gripped into nearly shattering. He was sure he could see multiple veins pop out of the hand that was murdering the poor piece of glass.

" **There are some things you never say to a woman, _Bakugou Katsuki_. Especially not to your very own mother.**"

Her voice was perfectly calm, ominously so. It sent shivers down the spines of the two; Katsuki especially. But it was only the prelude, the calm before the storm.

_CRAP CRAP CRAPCRAPCRAP WHY DID I SAY THAT OH MY GOD I REALLY PISSED HER OFF WHY CAN I NOT SHUT MY BIG STUPID MOUTH I NEED TO MOVE NOW—_

Katsuki finally managed to move slightly, but he could have sworn the pressure she was exuding was holding him in place, weighing him down with her pure, unrelenting wrath.

She finally made a move, both the victims' eyes instantly flicked towards the ominous entity that had just possessed their mother and wife respectively.

It turned to face them, and any doubt Katsuki had felt before vanished.

He had to make a run for it, _NOW_.

**_Crack_ **

The sound of the glass snapping—totally _shattering_ in her hands echoed through the deadly silent kitchen like a thunder clap.

Katsuki _ran_ as if his life depended on it.

Because it most likely did.

" **GET BACK HERE YOU DAMNED BRAT HOW DARE YOU CALL ME FAT I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I WEIGH THE PERFECTLY AVERAGE WEIGHT OF—**

As she stormed off after her rascal of a son, Masaru sighed to himself, pushing his glasses properly onto his nose with shaky hands.

"You pushed the 'weight' button, my dear son." He mumbled sagely, voice trembling.

"You shouldn't 'a did that."

* * *

For some reason, for just a fraction of a second. Izuku felt _really_ bad for Katsuki.

He couldn't think of what could possibly have happened to his friend for him to abruptly feel like this, but whatever it was…

It must have been _truly_ unfortunate.

He shook the feeling off and went back to listening to what the doctor had to say, it was important after all. He was about to learn whether he would be capable of ever eating again, and he could feel himself become nervous.

"Okay, now that we are all seated, I'll tell you the results of my research on your quirk" Kanou said as he pulled out a few documents from his drawer, Izuku recognized the excited glimmer in the man's eyes from when he'd told him about his quirk yesterday.

"But before we get into that, it would probably be interesting to hea-“

"B-before we begin doctor, I want you to be frank with me here," Inko interrupted, her shivering voice betraying her nervousness. "I… I don't think my heart can take it much longer, is there really any hope he will be able to properly eat, or…" She couldn't bear to finish the sentence.

"A-ah…" Kanou was rather perplexed at the interruption, it was obvious he hadn't been expecting to be cut off, evident by the his slightly gaping mouth. Izuku couldn't blame him though, his mother was usually never this impatient. But he also understood how nervous she had to be, he glanced at Inko's shaking hands as they gripped her purse tightly, with worry.

Inko knew it was rude to just interrupt the doctor like that; he probably still had other stuff to say before he got to that matter. But Inko knew she honestly just would not be able to suffer through the suspense any longer, everything the man would say would go in one ear and out the other.

This moment could very well flip their life upside-down, and the uncertainty was unbearable for the woman.

Kanou noticed Inko's trembling frame, his expression shifting to one of understanding as he gave her an apologetic smile that despite his best efforts didn't diminish her nerves at all. "How truly inconsiderate of me, I apologize. This is a difficult situation for you after all. I hope you can forgive me."

"N-no it's fine," Inko was surprised at the genuine remorse that came from the doctor, she instantly felt bad for interrupting him. "as long as you understand."

He nodded appreciatively, any remorse replaced by excitement that only Izuku seemed to recognize.

"Thank you Midoriya-san, you are a good mother, you care deeply about how your son's quirk will affect him." Kanou complimented. "That's why I'm happy to inform you that I have found a definitive solution to his dietary problems, you won't have to worry about him starving."

Relief filled Inko as she let out a heavy breath she had unconsciously been holding since last dinner. She could feel a lot of tension leave her, but she knew it was no time for celebration; Izuku would most likely still not be able to eat like normal.

Now it was a matter of how _much_ would have to be changed.

"That's good to hear!" Izuku shared her relief, but was a lot more curious. "But Kanou-san, how were you able to figure it out so easily? You didn't really have much to go on did you?"

"I suppose you could say that." Kanou nodded. "But after I did some extensive research I actually found the answer where I was least expecting it."

He reached for the documents he had grabbed before and placed them for the Midoriyas to see, the only thing Inko could read on first glance was what appeared to be the title of a book.

"What's it say?" Izuku couldn't read the kanji.

" _'Listed mass-appearances of individual quirk types'_." Kanou read for him "It's a documentation of quirks that have made a sudden, instant big appearance in history."

When he got no more than a confused stare, he explained further. "Most of the time new types of quirks appear as the gene pool gets more intertwined and multiple mixes and matches are made, this is how quirks grow more diverse and we get hybrid quirks. But this is a relatively slow process, more often than not it takes at least one generation for there to be multiple cases of similar quirks."

He handed the documents to Inko. She took them wordlessly and started skimming through as Kanou continued.

"But there are exceptions, abnormalities if you will. The book I got these files from lists cases were a certain type of quirk suddenly makes a mass appearance in a generation, to the extent it should be impossible."

Inko was intently reading through the files while she listened to the doctor's explanation, as she read more she started to understand how odd the majority the occurrences were.

Some of them went back a hundred years, some even further.

There were several different cases, one was about how a town somewhere in Russia suddenly had a generation of children with radiation quirks. When the government in the area investigated more, they'd found some slightly radiated waste from a nearby factory had been illegally dumped in a nearby river.

One of the many theories was that the children of the parents that had come in contact with the river more than once while nearing expectancy had grown quirks that would allow them to deal with the radiation. Which ended up being nearly the entire next generation, considering the river had been a popular swimming spot for couples and newlyweds.

The town had been aptly referred to as 'Rad Town' from that point onwards; the new radiation quirk users had mixed with the normal residents until eventually, after a couple years, the majority of the population carried a radiation based quirk, and it had become the new norm.

Inko noted this was one of the few occasions where they actually managed to find a likely cause, in comparison, there were much more cases where for inexplicable reasons a certain quirk type were to spontaneously show up in a bunch of children in a certain area. Often there would be too many different variables to be able to pinpoint what exactly could've been the source so it would be left as a mystery.

It was intriguing, to say the least. But she didn't understand how this was relevant right now.

"Midoriya-san, are you by chance familiar with the ward-protocol?" Kanou asked.

Izuku's brows knitted together at the English word. "Wart-protekool?" He butchered innocently.

Inko looked up from the documents, as she thought about it for a second. "Do you mean the protocol that was used worldwide back in 2070 to regain balance after quirks had appeared?" She could vaguely remember reading about it during high-school.

"Why yes, I'm actually surprised you know." He sounded impressed. "This subject is skimmed over in Japanese history these days, so it's often forgotten."

"And why is that?" The mother queried. "Did something happen? They only really taught us that it lasted 7 years and that in after the second year of implementation they had finally managed to actually start enforcing proper quirk laws, not much more."

Or maybe they had, Inko had never been a huge fan of history so she wouldn't really put it past herself if she simply forgot.

He dipped his head in affirmation however. "Yes, that seems to be the general consensus these days. Most people forget about it entirely while the few people that do remember know the bare minimum." Inko handed back the documents, feeling she had read enough. Kanou took them gratefully.

"Isn't that a little weird?" Izuku finally tuned in, barely managing to follow the conversation but hanging on nonetheless. "They were trying to fix everything right? Why would they forget? Wasn’t it like, _super_ important?"

Kanou chuckled lightly. "Indeed it is Izuku-kun, but this case is different." A frown made it's way on his face. "Most of the world would rather have us forget what happened then, you could say it's natural for the higher ups to want to hide whatever mistakes they made."

Inko gaped a little. "You don't mean…?"

"Yes, censorship." He affirmed. "After the ward protocol was initiated and the quirk laws were being implemented there was a huge spike in violent demonstrations, to the point you could consider them attempts at coup d'états."

"Coep de thots?" Izuku mangled yet again.

"That means the people wanted to take control away from the government, honey." Inko supplied her son wryly.

"Why would they want to do that?" The toddler was clearly confused at the prospect.

This time Kanou answered. "Because they aren't happy with the way the government does things, but instead of demonstrating peacefully they resort to violence. It's rarely a justified action and it's considered illegal, normally you would risk going to jail. But back then, they used a different approach…"

He held his chin thoughtfully as he recounted. "Because the laws were put in place to put an end to the people with quirks rampaging, a lot of those same people would band together to form terrorist groups. They appeared all over the world, all with different names and sometimes differing agendas.

"Most of those groups simply wanted to revert back to the old chaotic way of living before the quirk-laws, where they could freely rampage with their quirks. While other more extremist groups that were driven by god complexes wanted to clean the world of the quirkless, to create what they believed was an utopia."

Kanou was mostly explaining to Inko at this point, Izuku couldn't really understand much of what was being said.

"Japan also had such groups, but there was one that was exceptionally dangerous…"

The doctor pulled another document out of his pile and passed them to Inko.

"Aogiri no Ki." Inko read out loud.

Izuku looked at the document oddly. "Chinese parasol tree?" He uttered, puzzled at the odd word combination.

"They were a prominent Japanese organization back then that appeared a year after the quirk laws were put in place. It was placed third in terms of size, beat only by the Shie Hassaikai and the Ketsueki no Dorei, which was still enough to classify them as one of the largest anti quirk-law terrorist organizations in the world. They had also been one of the very few organizations to almost succeed in a coup."

"No offense doctor." Inko interjected. "This is all very intriguing, but how is this related to Izuku's quirk?" She quickly skimmed through the document some more. "All this document has to offer are different reports on crimes they committed."

And it grossed her out.

The contents were mostly articles detailing the atrocious crimes the organization committed, they ranged from arson to assault, damage of public property and much more. What was the most unsettling was that the amount of missing people in the ward they appeared in would skyrocket, they were a public menace. No one was safe in their presence, not even the innocent.

Kanou realized he was getting off-track again. "Ah, right. It's not often I get to converse about this topic considering it's kept somewhat secretive, so I hope you can understand my enthusiasm."

Inko shook her head. "No, no I agree, this is very interesting, _however_..."

She tapped her son on the shoulder, which caused him to jump in his chair as his eyes shot open.

"…Izuku is starting to fall asleep." She mentioned dryly.

Izuku became a stuttering mess as he shot up into his chair, he was mentally drowning in embarrassment.

 _I'm... I'm just boring him._ The doctor sweat-dropped.

He stifled a cough as he got up and headed for one of his shelves. "I better speed it up then, I'm going to need Izuku-kun to be awake for the tests later."

Izuku went even more rigid at the mention of tests, he prayed they didn't involve needles.

The doctor returned to his seat, now holding _another_ stack of paper, though this one seemed considerably less thick in comparison to the last two.

 _Why didn't he just grab them all in one go? I'm starting to think he's trying to be suspenseful on purpose…_ Inko couldn't help but guess as she silently reevaluated her opinion of the doctor.

Izuku just watched the papers intently, hoping they were something actually concerning his quirk, and not some evil villain group.

_All might would've beat the crud out of them anyways._

"What made Aogiri no Ki so dangerous compared to the other groups was not only their numbers, it was mostly because of their incredibly powerful and versatile quirks. One of them could easily take down a dozen trained officers in record time, which in turn left the Japanese law-enforcement vastly unprepared to deal with them, and any other rampaging villains."

"Wait.“ Inko could slowly feel the puzzle pieces the doctor had laid out connect, as she realized where he was going with this. “Were they by chance a case of mass appearing quirks?"

"Correct." Kanou reclined in his chair a little. "They were all reported to have the same quirk, which also made it one of the single biggest appearance of a singular quirk in Japan. We have absolutely no idea what caused so many people with the same quirk to group together like that, and we'll never know."

"Why not?" Izuku was intrigued now that the topic was back to quirks.

The doctor hesitated before he spoke. "Because after a year of fighting the Aogiri no Ki, the army finally managed to find their headquarters. They waited until the group returned from one of their attacks..." Kanou paused mid-sentence and shifted in his chair a little uncomfortably.

"And bombed them to the ground. When they checked the ruins they found that it had also been where the families of the group had resided, which included children and the elderly. They had effectively wiped all of them off the face of the planet, there were no survivors. When the army was questioned if they had been aware, they gave no definitive answer…"

"That's…"

The rational part of Inko's brain told her they obviously deserved what they got. But the kind-to-a-fault voice in her heart whispered that it was still cruel for the uninvolved children and women to be bombed down so mercilessly. She could understand why Japan wouldn't go around boasting about the victory, it had been a bleak win that left a bad taste in your mouth.

Izuku was blissfully unaware of the implications of what the doctor had just told them. He watched his mother's melancholy expression with an odd look. And then glanced at the doctor, who wore a similarly uncomfortable expression.

_The bad guys were beaten by the good guys right? Why are they so sad?_

Before Izuku could voice his innocent musings, Kanou resumed. "Now that you know what the Aogiri no Ki was, I should probably explain how this is relevant."

Snapped out of her chaotic moral evaluation, Inko looked on as the doctor placed the documents—no photographs he'd been holding on the desk.

The photographs looked rather… ordinary, they were taken at odd angles and were honestly very blurry. All of them were zoomed in on a specific person, nothing in particular seemed to be out of place.

When Izuku held one of the pictures closer to take a better look, he let out a surprised gasp.

"Th-that- Those…"

Inko's eyes instantly flicked over to her son, he was looking at a picture she hadn't inspected yet.

Did he find anything?

"Those are my eyes…?" He was in obvious disbelief.

Alarmed, Inko grabbed the picture so she could see it for herself.

In the picture was a man wearing a business suit you'd find anywhere, it was out of fashion, indicating this photograph was taken a long time ago.

The angle was odd though, the man looked to be walking away from whatever had been used to take the picture. To his right was a glass window, his face was visible in the reflection.

Wait a second..

The reflection…

Black sclera.

Red pupils.

Just... like Izuku.

She took the other pictures and scanned the faces for those key features. While Izuku stared into a wall, in a daze.

"T-this is…"

"They share the same eyes." Kanou finished for her.

"W-wait, this isn't enough proof. Sure they may have the same eyes but that doesn't mean much, it could just be a coincidence." She argued.

The doctor sighed. "I thought the same thing, so I looked into the details of the quirks used by the Aogiri no Ki members." He typed something on his keyboard for a moment before he turned his monitor so that the Midoriyas could see.

"This is what I found"

On it was a two-row chart. At the top it said 'Izuku' and 'Aogiri' while on the left multiple different physical features were listed. Kanou checked the chart over before he moved his mouse to mark 'Black and red eyes' in Izuku's row.

"I made this chart to compare the physical features of Izuku and the members, if they are both crossed it means they share a trait." he explained to the two.

Inko went down the list silently, dread filling her.

_Black and red eyes. Both_

_Enhanced regeneration. Both_

_Enhanced durability. Both_

_Enhanced senses. Izuku. Insufficient information on Aogiri._

_Enhanced strength. Only Aogiri_ …

She gulped.

"Honey, d-do you by chance know if your q-quirk made you stronger?" Inko wasn't sure she knew what she wanted him to answer.

"H-huh?" The question shook him out of his stupor. Kanou made sure to listen closely. "O-oh, uh yeah. The reason I got hurt in the morning was because I was trying to lift that d-dumbbell you had hidden away. I could lift it higher than I could before, so I guess that's a yes." The boy's face went unreadable again.

Inko didn't respond, knowing her voice would fail her.

_Enhanced strength. B-both_

"You got hurt?" Asked the doctor, he hadn't known of this.

Izuku responded with a hesitant nod. "Y-yeah, I cut my right arm on a saw."

_Capable of creating multicolored scale-like appendages. Only Aogiri._

_What the hell? What does that even mean?_

Kanou viewed his totally unharmed right arm bug-eyed. "Well… I don't see anything. So I assume it healed?"

"Yes… the wound was pretty big, it took around ten minutes to heal, made me feel pretty hungry though.

_Requires consumption of (Human?) blood. Both_

_Both?_

_What…?_

"Wow," The boy received an impressed thumbs-up. "That's some impressive regen, we weren't able to figure out how long it took the wound on your head to heal, but it seems it's about as great as we'd theorized."

_…the **fuck**?_

Izuku smiled. "Thanks, it looked pretty coo-“

"Doctor." Inko mercilessly interrupted her son, who sensed the edge in her tone and closed his mouth instantly

Kanou—also sensing the anxiety in her tone—turned to look at her with alarm. _Oh, she was reading the chart._

He’d stopped paying attention to her entirely, instead focusing on Izuku's currently nonexistent wound.

_Wait, she read about the blood consumption didn't she._

Her confused and scared face told him more than enough

_I'm such a fucking dunce._

She spoke again, clearly panicking. " _Doctor_ , I read the chart. Would you like to inform me what 'Requires consum—

 _“_ ** _COUGHCOUGHCOUGHCOOOOUUUGH_** ”

" _OWW!_ "

Izuku fell out of his chair at the abrupt 'coughing fit' the doctor suffered; the poor toddler was trembling and covering his ears in an attempt quell his ringing ears. Slowly, he managed to get back up.

Inko also flinched, but recovered quickly enough to notice Kanou put a finger to his lips with a warning look on his face. She could clearly understand the message he was sending her. _Don't say anything about it! Play along._

It was very hesitant, but he received a nod. "A-ah doctor, are you alright?"

Scraping his throat, Kanou stood up and played his part. "Yes, it seems my lungs were acting up a little. Don't worry, I'm fine now."

Apologetically, he put a hand on Izuku's shaking shoulder, his head was still down. "I'm sorry I scared you, Izuku-kun. Can you forgive my poor lungs?"

He knew it was a cheap trick to guilt trip the kid like that, but they needed to move on to the experiment. Kanou wasn't oblivious to the red tears forming in Izuku's eyes; it'd be bad if the boy (justifiably) wanted to head home after he had just scared him half to death. But it was imperative that he didn't know what he'd be consuming in the following test.

Slowly but surely, Izuku recovered. As he looked at the doctor with wide still teary eyes. "Does your quirk make your lungs explode?"

Kanou sweat-dropped at the innocent assumption. "N-no my boy, just a coughing fit, you won't have to worry about me." Giving him a pat on the head, Kanou moved to the door. "We should move on to the tests I have prepared, would you two follow me?"

Inko got up and followed the doctor to the door, face remaining melancholic.

Izuku didn't move though, she heard him mumble something about needles with one hand still on his ear. She called out to him. "Izuku, sweetie. Let's go."

His thoughts were instantly derailed, evident by the cross look he gave her. But he followed nonetheless.

_Well, isn't he feeling grumpy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to regularly scheduled updates!
> 
> You probably noticed from the chapter title, but this is actually one chapter split in two. The original chapter was actually about twice the size of an average chapter (18K words instead of the usual 6K to 10k)
> 
> When I first wrote this chapter, I somehow thought it was a good idea to condense all the world-building, lore and important information in one chapter.
> 
> But as I reread the chapter while brushing it up in order to post it here, I quickly realized that that was probably not a very good idea. I don’t want to overwhelm you guys by putting all of it in a single chapter, so splitting it up should make it a lot easier to process all the important information and stuff like that, I hope you don’t mind.
> 
> But I don’t want to cheat you guys, so I’ll post the second part tomorrow, please look forward to it then!


	5. (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The true nature of Izuku’s quirk along with the heavy burdens it carries, are finally revealed...

* * *

**True Nature ~~Unleashed~~ Revealed**

* * *

By the time they reached their destination, the ringing in Izuku's ear had finally disappeared, a slight headache taking its place instead.

The boy had never heard someone cough that hard before, how was the human body even capable of making that much noise? The fact it was so sudden didn't help at all.

Izuku was glad he'd thought of going to the toilet before they left. He would have seriously considered jumping out of the window if he had pissed himself there.

"We're here."

They stopped in front of a large metal door, Izuku watched the metal plates covering it with awe, was it reinforced?

The door creaked as Kanou opened it and lead them inside. Izuku noted it looked vastly different from the doctor's little office. This room was much larger, about twice the size of his school's gym hall, he could also see other doctors and nurses with kids in hospital gowns when he looked around.

"What is this hall used for?" Asked Inko.

"This is one of our quirk examination halls, here is where we help and test the quirks of our patients if there are ever problems with them." He gestured to his colleagues helping the children, there were also some adult patients. "We are currently headed for one of the smaller rooms over there." He now pointed at a row of doors on the opposite side of the hall.

Izuku supposed that made sense, he could see scorch marks on a few of the marked off places. _Probably where they test destructive emitter type quirks or something._ He took his time looking around the large gym like hall, Inko and Kanou didn't seem to notice as they kept walking.

He suddenly felt a shiver up his spine as he heard a zooming sound coming from his left.

Izuku followed his instincts, and ducked.

"LOOK OUT!"

**ZOOOM**

He could hear something zipping past his head, and stood crouched there for a few more moments, his eyes shut as he had no idea what he should do now.

"Are- are you okay?" came a concerned female voice, she sounded out off breath.

Inko had miraculously not heard it, she and the doctor had already moved a considerable distance away.

Deeming it safe enough to move now, Izuku opened his eyes and cringed at the strong smell of something burnt to his right.

Where his head had been not more than a second ago was now a rather large scorch mark, the wall was crumbling slightly in the center of the black spot.

 _Did I just dodge that?_ He paled. _I would've been ultra-dead if whatever that was hit me in the head…_

He turned to see where the blast had come from, but instead found a young nurse. She flinched slightly when he looked her in the eyes, which did absolute wonders to Izuku's self esteem.

The nurse saw the boy's shoulders sag, and quickly realized he had noticed her subpar reaction to his uncanny eyes. It felt like she kicked a puppy.

"Are you hurt? That was an impressive dodge."

"I'm fine…" He answered halfheartedly. "What was that anyway?"

"A-ah well," Her nervousness was palpable. "I was helping one of the kids with his quirk. His aim was thrown off and he accidentally sent a laser your way, he was worried he hit you."

She motioned to one of the kids standing on the far opposite side of the hall, Izuku could feel his eyes… zoom in on the boy? He couldn't describe the feeling but he could see the boy's appearance very well despite the distance. The boy must have noticed that Izuku was looking in his direction, as he was now waving while he made his way towards Izuku.

He had blonde hair, neatly combed and styled in a rather fashionable western style, with a fringe covering the left side of his rather feminine face. He was wearing a white frilly blouse and matching pearly white dress pants, Izuku also noticed a rather out of place belt somewhat sagging around his waist as he ran.

_What is that used for? It looks too bulky to be just for show, does it do something?_

The blonde finally made it to Izuku and the nurse, he was breathing a little raggedly. The green mop noted it must be draining to have to constantly grab onto the belt to make sure it didn't slip while running.

"Je…" He took a breath. "Je suis désolée!" The boy finally shouted.

…

…

…

"Huh?"

Izuku was left speechless.

 _Wh-what does that mean? No go back one step, what language even is that?_ He quickly decided the best course of action was to wait for the blonde to say something else. _I'll just wait for him to realize I didn't understand a word of what he just said. I'll even do my best to look confused! That'll have to work!_

Right?

No.

The boy only gave him an expectant look, obviously waiting for a response.

Izuku started to sweat buckets, and frantically looked to the nurse for help. It was of no use though, she simply pretended to hide behind her clipboard. While, unbeknownst to him, doing her best to not laugh at the awkward situation the crimson eyed boy found himself in.

He was on his own.

So he decided he'd use the magical words. _Mom said I should say this when I don't understand what someone is saying! This HAS to work!_ He thought confidently.

"A-aye " He spluttered.

"du… du nut sp-speek engrish!"

…

A soft snicker was audible from the nurse’s direction.

…

Izuku realized he did something wrong when the only response he received from blondey was a strange look—the look one would give an insane person.

Izuku went cherry red, matching his pupils quite well. He had tried everything he knew, at this point, he'd just have to be forward about it.

"L-look I don't understand what you just said, alright? Do you speak Japanese or not?"

…

…

…

"But of course I do, that's an odd question." The other kid replied simply. Izuku received another 'are you insane?' look, which Izuku noticed fit his feminine face aggravatingly well.

Izuku's eye twitched violently. "Then why didn't you start off speaking— _oh I don't know—_ the language all the people in this country speak?!"

The blonde merely scoffed at the thought. " _Mais c'est debile_ , why would I stoop that low when I could speak my _magnifique_ father-tongue instead!"

Alright.

That's it.

Having had more than enough, Izuku retaliated with a glare. "Well if that's all you've got to say, I'm going."

_Prick._

He spun around and made to follow his mother (who was already halfway across the hall and still hadn't noticed his absence) but was stopped by the blonde grasping the end of his T shirt.

Izuku turned his head, ready to snap at him—

"H-hey let me-“

—only to pause when he saw the genuine expression adorning the blonde's face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to almost hit you with my quirk. My control kinda sucks..."

Izuku regarded him quietly for a moment. _I think he means it._

He gave the blonde a sunny smile. "You apologized, so it's fine! I forgive you. But I gotta head to my mom and doctor now."

Blondey dipped his head and let his T shirt go. "See ya, and good luck with your quirk. You'll be able to control it if you practice!" He added before he ran after his mother. _Maybe he's not a prick after all…_

The nurse walked over to the boy, smiling a little. "Alright, you heard him, shall we continue your practice?"

The blonde hesitated for a second, watching the green mop's shrinking form solemnly before he reluctantly took her hand.

* * *

"Okay, now that we are here. I'll prepare for the tests, I'll explain what we'll be doing shortly." Kanou flipped on the light switch as he lead the Midoriyas into one of the smaller examination rooms connected to the hall. As the lights turned on, Izuku hurriedly scanned around the room for any needles or sharp tools.

Luckily for him, it seemed to be a normal if not slightly barren examination room. All he found was a couple foldable tables placed in the back of the room surrounded by a few matching chairs. With a hospital bed plus some equipment, and what looked like a fridge placed in the corner next to a counter and some drawers. On the opposite side were some bookcases and cabinets with medicine and the like.

Both sides of the room had doors, most likely connecting to the adjacent examination rooms, and a bunch off inspirational posters adorning the walls.

Izuku couldn't read what they said—the text was written in kanji—but knew without a sliver of doubt that the jokes on them were terrible.

"You can seat yourselves while I prepare." Kanou mentioned absentmindedly while he searched through some of the drawers. The Midoriyas complied, and sat down on the foldable chairs silently.

A few minutes passed before the doctor finally set up everything. "Alright, we'll start off by doing a simple physical examination. To see if your body has changed in any other ways, and to double check some other things."

And so they did. Among other things, Izuku's weight, height, ears and eyes were all measured or checked. Kanou wrote all the results on his trusty tablet.

"Good job Izuku-kun. You did well." Kanou praised as he moved the Otoscope away from Izuku's ear. He faced Inko, who had been silently watching as they did the measuring, and described everything he had written down.

"Izuku-kun hasn't changed much on the surface level compared to most mutation quirks. The last check-up was about 6 months ago, and the only abnormal changes since then are to his sight, reflexes, hearing, smell, weight and complexion. His height and for example his heart-rate are normal and consistent with the averages for his age."

He grabbed a chair mirroring the Midoriyas as he read all notable changes. "I suppose I'll go over them all quickly: Izuku managed to read every single letter on the eye chart without trouble, his reflexes are above average, his nose and ears have evolved internally in a way that allows him to perceive much more than the average person could, and he has lost weight." He concluded his summary, and adjusted his glasses. "But I suppose the latter would make sense considering you haven't eaten anything for nearly 5 days."

Izuku didn't appreciate the reminder.

Kanou stood up, "But that will come to an end, we'll be fixing that now." He wore a determined expression.

Inko, having said next to nothing since they entered the room finally spoke up. "Will this have to do with _that?"_

 _'That'? What's 'that' supposed to mean?_ Izuku wondered in confusion as he picked up the obscure phrasing. He observed Kanou's reaction with interest, hoping to gleam some information out of it. _Am I missing something?_

Kanou understood the underlying question instantly however. And responded not missing a beat, to Izuku's chagrin. "I suppose you could say that, but I need you to trust me on this, Midoriya-san."

"…Okay then." That seemed to have settled her down somewhat at first glance, but a closer inspection would expose hints of the melancholy she was still going through.

"Thank you." Kanou was grateful Inko wasn't being difficult about the matter. "Now Izuku-kun, could you please take seat at one of the tables while I grab the necessary… materials."

Inko raised an eyebrow in suspicion. _Well, wasn't that just the most suspicious_ _thing ever._

Izuku hummed and moved his chair so he could sit at the table next to his mother, Inko helped him move the piece of furniture but also decided to take a peek at what the man was actually doing. When she looked over she could see he was rummaging through the fridge. _Is he just going to pull out a blood bag or something? Why bother hiding it from Izuku then?_

 _"_ Pff, this is much heavier than I remembered." The doctor complained lamely, barely managing to even lift whatever he was clutching out of the fridge

It seems she had been too quick to judge his intentions. Instead of something like a blood bag or a syringe, Kanou was holding a large metal multi-layered rack filled with numerous vials. They were all lidded and opaque—Inko couldn't see the contents at all. The only thing she _could_ do was wonder what the man was planning to do with them, hoping it wouldn't be something dangerous.

Having moved his chair properly, Izuku also turned to look at what the doctor was up to. Difference being that he didn't hesitate to be more vocal about his interest. "Kanou-san? What are those things?"

Kanou didn't bother answering him, roughly dropping the rack on the table in front of the boy instead. He let out a pained groan. "Ugh… God almighty, why are these racks so heavy? I'm getting too old for this."

He took a moment to sit down and catch his breath while Izuku moved towards him to check if he was actually okay, they were both oblivious to the vial that had popped out of it's slot due to the rough impact with the table and was starting to fall.

Inko quickly took notice however and attracted the falling vial into her hand, she took a closer look at the mysterious bottle and found it was numbered. _What's in these? And why are there so many? I need to know…_ Not hesitating any longer, Inko screwed off the lid so she could take a smell at whatever was inside.

She took a quick sniff. _It smells like…_

Another sniff to be absolutely sure. _Like…_

She frowned.

_… Tea?_

Inko was not crazy, she knew damn well what tea smelled like, and this definitely smelled like a brand of tea she knew. But her time to figure it out was cut short—in the corner of her eyes she could spot Izuku helping the doctor up.

She quickly put the vial back where it had been before, and sat up straight. _This honestly left me with more questions, but I need to stop being impatient_. _The doctor said he'd explain everything now, calm down Inko! Izuku will be fine!_ She tried to reassure herself weakly.

"Thank you Izuku-kun." The doctor stretched as he finally stood up, resulting in a lot of pretty loud pops and cracks in his joints. "Your concern flatters me, I feel better already." He gave the boy a grateful smile, which Izuku was too distracted for to reciprocate.

_EWW WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT SOUND?_

Izuku was horrified and disgusted by how well he could hear _every_ individual crack and squish occur, it sounded _way_ too mushy for his liking. _That… that was so gross!_ His stomach grumbled oddly in what Izuku assumed was disgust. _D-don't tell me I'm going to be forced to hear stuff like that from now on, I won't s-survive a week…_

Somewhere, a certain long-earlobed girl felt like someone finally understood her.

Kanou simply brushed off the boy's bewildered expression to his age. "Kids these days are so…" His gaze involuntarily hovered over one of the banners.

"quirky."

"Haha…"

He instantly ripped his eyes off of the 'Be quirky kids!' Wacronalds poster on the wall in front of him and suppressed the innate desire to bash his skull against it. _God save me, these damned posters are rubbing their shitty humor off on me._ The grown man _genuinely_ felt like crying. _I'm losing sight of m-myself, I-I don't want another mid-life crisis…_

Inko—oblivious to Kanou's internal existential crisis and Izuku's mental scrum debate on whether or not deafness was such a bad thing—had decided she'd heard enough of both of their almost insane ramblings. "D-doctor? Can we begin the test?"

" _ificutdownonthealcoholishouldliveatleastanotherfiveyearswhichwouldadduptoaround-"_

Almost insane was gradually transforming into full-on serial killer mode—he hadn't even _heard_ her over his own mumbling. Inko suddenly felt a little apprehensive about even _trying_ to interrupt him at this point.

The disturbed woman feebly turned to Izuku, confident her son would come to her aid. "S-sweetie, help me snap the doctor out of it will you?"

 _"doireallywanttogodeaf?i_ _wontbeabletolistentomusicwithkacchansdadbutwillireallybeabletopeeatschoolwhentheresaguynextometakingacrapandicanhearallofi-"_

Inko blanched. "Oh."

This would take a while.

And it definitely did, Inko had resorted to simply tuning them out, aiming to at the very least preserve her own sanity.

It had been an up-hill battle, but they thankfully snapped out of it eventually.

They acted as if nothing had happened afterwards, so Inko decided not to bring it up in an effort to avoid a relapse.

 _Note to self: Consider finding a therapist for Izuku._ Temporary ignorance did _not_ mean she would forget.

Meanwhile, Kanou finally moved (ran) away from the Wacronalds poster and lead Izuku to the table with the vial rack. "O-okay, we'll now begin the actual test."

 _God, finally._ She felt like she'd already waited a month. _I just want to know what's gonna have to change already!_ Inko complained to herself.

"This is how it's going to work Izuku-kun: You're gonna take a vial, and you're going to drink it. Then I want you to guess what it is, and I want you to tell me whether it tastes good or not, and if you'd be able to realistically drink it. After each vial you'll get a gummy bear-"

The doctor halted, realizing something as he spoke. "Oh right, you should probably try eating one before we start the test.” He pulled out a see-through container holding smaller labeled bags with gummies, out of one of the drawers. “These are special gummy bears filled with different types of nutrients, they effectively emulate different food groups, allowing me to efficiently test whether you are capable of eating any specific supplements."

He placed the container on the table before opening it and grabbing one of the labeled bags, he handed Izuku an orange bear. Izuku took it politely and plopped it into his mouth, after chewing for about 5 seconds, he could feel the repulsive sensation enter his mouth and throat. He spat the gummy bear out into his hand and gave it a dirty look that fit his red eyes a little too well.

 _This was the expected outcome, right?_ He thought, remembering how this had been one of both his and Katsuki's favorite candy. Now he could barely stand having it in his mouth for longer than 5 seconds without feeling like puking. He had to fight back tears. _D-don't cry, I'm doing this so the doctor can help after all…_

"That's too bad, but believe me when I say it’s necessary." The doctor could feel a tinge of sadness at the despair visible on the boy's face, but still kept his tone professional. "With that out of the way, start by picking a vial from the upper row, and just work your way down, they are numbered so that should help."

Izuku obliged wordlessly, sadness still apparent as he grabbed the vial with the number ‘1’ and twisted off the lid. He turned his gaze towards the doctor (who had already grabbed his tablet to write down the results) looking for approval, which he got in the form of a nod.

So he chugged the vial in one go, he already had a clue as to what it was thanks to the smell. But now he knew for sure- it was yogurt, or at least, it had tasted like regular yogurt for a moment. Until he could feel the now familiar disgust return.

He regurgitated it back into the vial as politely as was physically possible (Which wasn't a lot), and put it back in it's spot on the rack with shaky hands.

"That was… gross. I-I don't think I could drink that without getting really s-sick."

"Do you at least know what you just drank?"

 _Oh right, didn't say._ He'd forgotten he had to mention what it was. "It was yogurt? peach flavor, I think."

Kanou cocked an eyebrow. "You could actually tell?" That was unexpected.

Izuku dipped his head. "Kind off. I can basically taste what it is a little normally for like 5 seconds, before my body just... says no. Then it starts to taste really gross, so bad that it makes me want spit or puke it out."

"…interesting." He wrote it all down. "Try the gummy bear now." This time it was a green one, out of a different bag.

Izuku did, it still tasted awful. He didn't bother chewing for much longer and just spit it out. "The same as before."

And so, this almost went on for an hour; Izuku chugging a vial only to have to puke it up and follow it up by a gross gummy bear. The most frustrating part of it all is that every single time, it would take a few seconds for the disgust to kick in.

It would give him hope, only to then instantly crush it.

"That was milk. The same as before, I can't drink it at all." At this point Izuku had stopped chugging them altogether, now taking small sips instead; just enough to tell what it was but not enough to make a mess when he inevitably had to spit it out.

Kanou just hummed, and wrote it down. Inko watched as her son tried and failed at taking in any of the food and drinks. Her hope that what she’d read on the chart had been a mistake, was starting to dwindle.

In the mean-time, Izuku had made it to the last row of vials on the rack. The emotion had drained out of his face and he looked at the remaining five vials lifelessly.

 _What's even the point anymore?_ Izuku was starting to think the doctor had no idea what he was doing. Wasn't it clear after the 20th vial that he just couldn't consume them? The only one he could drink was the one with water in it and the really watered down tea, but Izuku had already known he could drink water, so it wasn't anything new.

_I just want this to end already._

Izuku reached for the bottle with the '5' on it, and took a whiff at what was inside. _That's…_

"This is... coffee?" He stated, recognizing the smell from whenever his dad would brew coffee when he came home.

Kanou wrote it down. "Correct, drink." It sounded like an order, but at this point the boy knew it was more out of routine than actual sternness.

Izuku sipped at it. He could instantly tell he didn't like the taste, but for once he wasn't sure if it was because he just flat-out disliked coffee or if his body was rejecting it. So he took another sip, earning him a raised eyebrow from both Inko and Kanou.

"Why did you drink from it again?" His mother asked.

Izuku hesitated for a moment, taking time to actually swallow the bitter liquid while doing his best to ignore the strong taste. "I'm… I don't know if this just normally tastes bad, or if the bitterness is getting rid of the feeling that makes me want to vomit or something, but I... I can drink this."

"…Huh." Kanou was honestly a little dumbstruck at that revelation. "Of all things, I hadn't expected coffee to work," He instantly went back to scribbling on his tablet. "I just added it in because my co-worker mentioned it as a joke. Does your stomach feel like it's acting up?"

Izuku put the vial back in its spot carefully. "I don't think so, it just feels like when I normally drink… or I guess used to drink or eat anything I didn't like."

"I see this as an absolute win then. I'll add coffee to the list." Izuku missed the odd choice of words; too busy thinking about the coffee.

 _Is everything I can eat or drink gonna be so gross?_ He sighed, putting the white gummy bear he was handed into his mouth, just to spit it out. _That didn’t taste good at all_ _, it was so bitter…_

Kanou could easily tell Izuku was growing tired of constantly repeating this as he observed him while he pretended to write something down. _Almost there kid, the real testing will start after this one._ He sneakily pulled a small bag out of his white coat, a single crimson gummy bear was visible.

 _Okay, number '4' next._ Izuku prepared himself mentally as he automatically took a smell at what was inside. _This… I think I've smelled this before, I don't know what it is though._

"I don't recognize this one."

"It's probably better that you don't."

Izuku didn't bother to ask what the doctor meant. He took a sip, but instantly spat it back into the bottle. " _Blegh_ … This is so gross! I'm not drinking this."

Kanou became suspiciously nervous. "I'll consider that a good thing. _That was alcohol_." The last part was barely a whisper.

"Wh-what? You fed him alcohol?!" Inko still heard him despite his efforts.

The doctor put up his hands in a placating manner, simultaneously hiding behind his tablet. "I h-had to Midoriya-san! It was for r-research." The angry look she still had prompted him to try again. "I-it wasn't anything strong. Just half a glass of a 1% drink, the equivalent of him accidentally taking a sip from his father's after-work glass of wine or something. It was at least worth testing if it would work."

Inko calmed down at his explanation, hooking a loose strand of hair behind her ear with a huff. "That's good then, I appreciate your willingness to find a solution, but please tell me beforehand."

 _Phew, that was close… wait._ The doctor only now realized how weird it was to be so scared when all she had done was send him an angry look. _Why did I feel so threatened? I've had to deal with countless angry parents before. What makes her different? Was it her aura?_ He considered it. _Most likely, it was pretty menacing._

Izuku had just ignored them, choosing to grab the next vial instead, when Kanou turned around he had already started smelling it. _Oh shit, I really need to pay attention to his reaction for the last three, I still need to give him the gummy bear too._ He rapidly shuffled closer to the boy.

Izuku was taking a while sniffing this one however. "What is this? I don't recognize this at all."

"I'm not telling you, drink it first."

The toddler sent him a suspicious look, but sampled it anyways.

His eyes widened slightly when he did, though. "This- it's… wh-what?" He was tripping over his words.

"Calm down," Kanou put a hand on his shoulder. "are you okay?"

"I'm…" he seemed to finally get a hold of himself again. "I think I'm okay, what is this? This is nothing like the ones before. I don't know how to explain it but it just tastes so… fake, so bland. Like it's missing something, is this some Chinese knock-off drink or something?"

Kanou had to suppress the look of realization that threatened to show on his face, he had to feign ignorance for a little while longer. "Can you recognize what it is?"

"N-no."

"That's okay for now, just drink the next one."

"What about the gummy bear?" Inko asked, confused at the skip of one of the steps.

"It's fine, I'll give him two after this one."

Izuku had already sipped the next vial anyways, keen to get the taste of the last one out of his mouth. Unfortunately for him, the next one wasn't much better.

"Th-this is the same as the last one!" He exclaimed. "N-no wait, this is different. It tastes, bad. Like my body is telling me there's something wrong with it—something's not right. But it's also different from the other vials, it’s missing something, but it as if…" He thought of a fitting comparison. "as if you used salt instead of sugar when making a cake.”

 _That... that actually makes a surprising amount of sense._ Kanou thought to himself with a frown. _This sucks however; it_ _would've been a lot more convenient if he could've just consumed these last two. But I guess that was just wishful thinking, I honestly wasn't expecting this to work anyways. Better to try and fail than not to try at all I guess._

He reached for the crimson red gummy bear and grasped another green one from the container. _Let's see how he reacts to the blood injected gummy bear._

"Izuku-kun, before we get to the last one, I want you to eat these gummy bears. Try the green one first."

Izuku deadpanned, he was done with everything at the moment, that last vial for some reason left him in a bad mood, as if he’d been wronged somehow. "Kanou-san, I've been trying these for a while now. We know I _can't_ swallow or eat them, so why are we still doing this? It’s hopeless..."

Inko was about to reprimand him for his rude tone, but Kanou beat her to the punch. "Look, Izuku-kun. I know you must be tired of having to constantly eat these when you find them disgusting right now. But it's necessary for us to test it, I know you must be frustrated, but-" A mischievous grin crept up the man's face, as he put the two candies between his fingers. "-please _bear_ with me okay?"

Reluctantly, Izuku's pout morphed into a small smile at the bad pun. "J-jeez, f-fine." He tried to imitate Katsuki's trademark indifferent defiance by crossing his arms and puffing his chest. But he didn't realize it had the exact opposite effect; he looked adorable. "I guess I can try two more." He mumbled quickly, taking the bears out of Kanou's hands.

Kanou let out a relieved breath, his eyes rapidly flicking over to one of the terrible posters in the corner of his eyes.

It was a posing green bear wearing nothing but underwear that said 'Just gummy **_bear_ **with it!'

Maybe those posters could be useful after all. Kanou was sure he'd still die of embarrassment if Inko found out he'd gotten that lame joke from a children's poster, but luckily for him she was too preoccupied with her musings for her to even pay attention to the silly wall decorations.

Izuku had already tried the green variation, he was now intently studying the crimson red one. _It seems he already noticed the difference._

And he had, Izuku was viewing the out-of-place bear with interest. _Now that I think about it, I don't think I've gotten a red gummy bear that was this dark before. The other ones are red like strawberries, this one is red like… a rose?_ He brought the piece of candy closer to his face. _Is it just a factory defect or something?_ He took in it's scent. _It smells different…_

After having tried and rejected all the gummy bears, Izuku automatically started connecting the scent the candy let off with the disgusting taste they had. This meant they no longer smelled 'good' or 'tasty' for him, it was now more akin to the feeling you'd get when smelling something rotten or expired.

But this particular candy…

His red eyes went wide like saucers. _It smells good?!_

Good was the understatement of the year. It scent that came off of it was _incredible_ , it was such a perfectly sweet aroma and his stomach was grumbling like an earthquake. Before he even knew what he was doing, he had practically vacuumed it into his mouth.

It turns out not only the scent was amazing, the flavor was even _better._ Izuku could feel something click in his body as he violently chewed on the gummy. _Thi-this is AMAZING._

Inko looked stupefied as her son devoured the gummy bear. "Huh? B-but that was… What?"

Izuku had already inhaled the candy and spun to face the doctor. "That was delicious! Give me more!" He was being rude, but he also just could not help it. He was _so hungry_ , and this wasn't like anything he had ever tasted before; a perfect combination of sweet and sugary. It was salvation for his stomach after eating and drinking all that gross stuff.

He didn't care anymore, he needed more of whatever it was.

"Woah!” Kanou put up his hands, gesturing for the child to calm down. “I get it, you liked it. Calm down first." Kanou was astonished at Izuku's instant change in behavior: he was almost jumping at him and his eyes were almost glowing, it was a far-cry from the timid boy he'd known him as. _Good thing I decided to give him it last, he wouldn't have bothered drinking everything else otherwise._

"Before you get anything, you need to drink the last one." The doctor's tone was firm.

Izuku looked like he was about to argue, but stopped himself when he could feel his mother's glare intensify, he growled(?!) instead. "Ugh, fine!" He swiped the last vial from it's place and opened the lid with haste.

He was wholly unprepared for his nose to be absolutely smothered in the same sweet aroma he'd just been drooling over when he ate the special bear.

"Thi-this is…!" He did not hesitate whatsoever to instantly inhale the contents.

If the gummy bear was good then this was positively _divine_ , Izuku almost fainted when his mouth eventually processed the flavor of the mysterious liquid.

It simply was _that_ good.

Though for Kanou and Inko it was disturbing seeing him almost fall over like that. They just silently watched him, both shocked and in Inko's case concerned at the boy's out of character behavior.

_This is the best thing I've ever got to drink, **ever** , nothing beats this. Absolutely nothing._

He clumsily sagged in his chair, a crooked, almost manic grin having formed on his red lips. He quickly checked if there was anything left in the vial by shaking it into his mouth, which got him nothing more than a single red droplet on his tongue, his crimson eyes nearly threatened to roll back into his head in bliss.

The scene reminded Inko of a drunk shaking his whiskey bottle desperately in hopes of getting even a little more out of it. _Th-that's blood isn't it?_ She looked at the red tinge on his lips and the dreamy expression he was wearing. _Blood tastes that good to him?_

However small that amount had been, it still managed to absolutely nuke his taste buds. The sugary sweet fragrance together with the almost sour and slightly bitter flavor made for a deadly combination Izuku was sure he'd never get tired of.

As the sudden high he entered after consuming the mystery liquid slowly started to dissipate, he began actually considering what just happened. _Wait, what is this? I don't remember ever drinking something like this in my life. And I would never forget something this amazing…_ He glanced over to where his mother and the doctor were still rooted in place, and blinked.

The two looked different somehow, a little more blurry, not as detailed. Before, he could easily spot the little frills on his mothers dress or the tiny black coffee dots on Kanou's white coat easily. Now he couldn't see them even if he strained his eyes until they hurt. _They are only like 5 meters (16.4 ft) away, why can I not see clearly_?

He looked around the room, and found that everything really _did_ look hazy, panic was starting to bubble in his throat.

"S-sweetie," Inko was first to speak up. "Your eyes a-are normal again."

"N-normal?"

"It seems your eyes have reverted back to their original colors." Kanou explained. "Most likely because the contents of the gummy bear and the vial satisfied your body enough to deactivate them." He was writing his observations of the past scene down at lightning speed.

"Th-then why is everything so… so foggy?"

"Foggy?" Kanou repeated, looking up from his tablet as something dawned on him. "Is... everything that's far away from you blurry?"

Izuku squinted his eyes. "Y-yeah, I can't really see the posters on the walls anymore, they're just blurry colors now…"

"... Really now." He moved towards the boy and took off his glasses, face uneasy. "Try these on for a second and look at the posters again." He said, holding them in his hands for Izuku to take.

"Sure?" He reluctantly took them and tried putting them on his face, they were too big for his small head so he had to hold them a little awkwardly. But he managed to look through them without smudging the glasses.

To his surprise, the posters had sharpened; he could now see them better than without the glasses. "I can see them better now, but it kinda hurts to look with these." He was narrowing his eyes uncomfortably.

Kanou groaned. "… Another unexpected development." He was getting tired of these. "It would seem your eyes in their regular state have regressed in strength by a considerable amount."

"Wh-what!" Inko jumped at the sudden bad news. "How? Why? Did his quirk do this?"

The doctor rubbed his face in exasperation at the new revelation. "No, it's not his quirk." He put his glasses back on. "It's actually not rare for patients to partially or even entirely lose their vision in either or both eyes after suffering considerable head trauma.

"But his eyes were fine yesterday!"

"Y-yeah, I could see like normal."

Kanou shook his head. "Sometimes the actual symptoms for vision loss occur only after the patient has already been discharged." Frustration creeped into his voice. "It was naïve of us to believe his body had been fully restored when we still had next to no information on to what extent his body could heal itself."

He could already form theories as to what caused this.

"It could be his body was focusing more on healing his head because it was a direct threat to his life, and thus didn't see healing his eyes as a priority. Or his body _was_ actually trying to fully heal his eyes but ran out of energy and resources before it could fully fix them, if that were the case then you would've most likely been blind were it not for your regenerative abilities minimizing the damage."

"I see…" Inko mumbled thoughtlessly.

She mentally punched herself at her poor choice of words. _Think before you speak Inko, just think._

Briefly, she studied Izuku's reaction to the news. He was trembling. _Izuku looks shaken up by this, prioritize him._ She moved over to comfort him, ruffling his hair soothingly.

"Everything's fine honey, you're just going to need to wear glasses when your eyes aren't all… red and black."

"G-glasses?"

"Yes." Kanou affirmed. "They are like mine, but you can choose what color and style you want yourself." He faced Inko. "I assume you want new glasses for him as soon as possible?"

"Yes, it would be convenient if he was able to get used to wearing them before he went back to school."

The doctor agreed. "That's logical, I'm sure I can arrange an appointment with one of our opticians tomorrow. We have special kid sized models so he'll find a good fit, when would be a good time?"

"Glasses huh…" Izuku was honestly a bit upset that his sight was ruined by the accident, but he was still happy he didn't go blind in an eye. P _lus I won't really need them all the time. If I can figure out how to activate my quirk again I can just use my super vision!_

Izuku was a little astonished at how fast he had started to view his enhanced sight as normal, it was jarring when his eyes abruptly changed back to their 'original' state. He was starting to rely on his quirk already. _Is this what the older kids mean when they say 'they just have to use their quirks'? I didn't understand it then but it makes sense now. At first I thought of quirks as a tool you use to do something, but it's more than that, it's part of me, just like my arm or my leg. So I rely on it just like I would rely on my hands or feet._

Speaking of his quirk, Izuku felt like he had almost forgotten something. _R-right, the magic juice. I still don't know what it is, I kinda want more…_

After properly discussing a date and time for the optician appointment, Kanou scraped his throat. " _Ahem_ , putting that aside for now. We need to discuss your reaction to the last vial, Izuku-kun."

Inko stored her agenda into her purse. "Yes, I'd also like to know."

"Izuku-kun, how would you describe that special gummy bear and the liquid you just drank?"

"It… it was like…" Izuku had to search through his vocabulary to find the proper words to describe how amazing it had made him feel.

"It's fine if you need some time." Inko added.

The boy shook his head quickly. "N-no, it's fine. It's just… It was _so good_ , like almost perfect. It tasted amazing and my body liked it. No wait it was more like it _wanted_ or even needed it."

Kanou frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's like… Kinda like drinking water after being really thirsty, but not the same. It goes differently, like something else is filled up."

"I… I don't follow." The confusion only increased for the adults.

 _I'm doing a terrible job explaining this, how can I tell them in a way they might understand?_ He got an idea. _Wait, It's a little embarrassing to ask an old person, but I can't think of something else._

"K-kanou-san, have you ever played a survival game where you need to eat and drink to survive?"

"H-huh?" The adults were caught off-guard by the sudden seemingly off-topic question. Kanou ultimately decided to humor him though. "W-well, I have played a few, why though?"

Izuku's face lit up. "Then you know that you need to like, fill up the food and water bar so you don't die right?"

Kanou could tell where he was going with this. "So you're trying to say the gummy bear and the drink counted as a bar separate from the other two? Like a different necessity?"

The boy shook his head up and down happily, relieved that he was able to get his point across despite the odd point of reference. "Yeah! That's what it feels like, It doesn't really feel like I ate anything, and not like I really drank water. Though I'm a little less thirsty now so maybe it kinda counts as water, but that's more of a side effect, I think."

Kanou paled as Izuku explained more. _This… this is might actually be the worst case scenario, if he's only capable of drinking blood and he needs a lot of it…._ He covered his mouth with his hand as his mind raced through the implications of what the boy just said. _No… I need to test one last thing before I come to any definitive conclusions._

"We need to test one last thing." The man lifted the rack off the table and carried it back to the fridge, this time not (vocally) complaining about the weight.

When he finally put it back in the fridge, he also pulled out a plate with on it a sandwich. To the confusion of the Midoriyas

"A sandwich?" Inko asked. "Why?"

He placed the plate on the table, right in front of Izuku. "I want Izuku-kun to have another go at eating normal food."

He only got befuddled stares. "It's because I need to know if the… 'third bar' needs to be filled for him to be able to eat normally. Or if there even is a 'food bar' to begin with." He stuck with the game terminology for convenience. "What I'm trying to say is that he needs to try eating something again after drinking the bl-" He caught himself. "the strange liquid."

Izuku fortunately didn't notice as he gazed into the sandwich like one would watching paint dry, there was no movement or intent on moving. Causing an awkward silence to hang in the air.

"You… you could just start by checking if it smells differently." Kanou suggested dryly, breaking the silence.

The boy blinked. "I… uh, yeah sure." He took a reluctant sniff, taking in the scent as best as he could. There was definitely a trace of the repugnant odor he had started associated with any food he couldn't eat (Which was becoming all food.), but it seemed to be less.

"It doesn't smell all that promising…" He looked away from the sandwich. "Do I _have_ to eat this? I'd rather not."

"Please just humor me on this, you won't regret it... probably."

Izuku sighed and grabbed a slice of the bread in consideration, only to put it down again. _It's better if I only take a small chunk, I don't want to waste it by taking a bite out of it._ So he ripped off a piece of the sandwich and put it in his mouth. He started mentally counting down.

 _1._ He had it in his mouth.

 _2_. He started chewing.

_3\. This sandwich is kinda bland…_

_4._ He chewed some more.

 _5._ He prepared for the disgust to kick in.

 _6…?_ But the taste remained the same.

He swallowed, eyes wide. _I… I didn't puke it out?_

Kanou grinned. "So I was partly right, if the third bar is low, you can't eat anything else until you fill it up again."

"That's a relief?" Inko felt a little unsure what to think of that.

Izuku ate another piece of the sandwich, actually taking in the taste now that he knew he wouldn't have to vomit it out. "It's really bland though… it doesn't taste like bread or cucumber at all."

"Really now…" Kanou cupped his chin. "Maybe the amount of taste that returns depends on how 'full' the bar is, since you only got about half a glass, you might need something akin to a full glass?" He theorized. _I really hope the amount doesn't stray too far from that, it's going to be troublesome in the future otherwise._

The green mop jumped in excitement at the mention of getting more of the magic juice. "C-can I get more? Please?"

The man looked to be thinking it over for a moment, frown marring his features. "You'll get another half a glass's worth, nothing more."

"Alright!"

Kanou grabbed another vial from the fridge and prepared to give it to him. Not before warning him however. "I want you to stay calm when you drink this, understood?" The last thing he wanted was for the boy to start acting like a drunk again, it was disturbing to say the least.

"I'll try not to?"

Kanou didn't give it to him.

"F-fine I won't"

"That's what I like to hear." He allowed the boy to take it from him.

Izuku downed the vial instantly. The same euphoria he felt the first time returned in full force, leaving him exhilarated. It was hard to keep control of himself, he could already feel himself swaying slightly. _N-no, I promised I would act normal, I still need to try the sandwich._

With shaky fingers, he grasped one half of the sandwich, bringing it to his mouth steadily and taking a large bite.

 _It's pretty good!_ He ate more. _A lot better than before I got more of the magic juice, but it's still a little bland when I compare it to how it used to taste before I got my quirk, bummer..._

He took a final bite and finished the slice. "It's better than before, still a little flavorless but I can eat this."

Inko blinked. He _can eat…_

 _He can actually EAT! Thank god!_ The woman had a huge smile on her face, she was so glad he could eat properly, even if he needed to drink blood for it to be possible. It was _really_ unsettling to see what state it left him in, and how much he loved the taste of it. But she would get used to it, she now knew without a doubt that they would be able to get through this.

"Isn't that great Izuku? You only need to drink a little blood and you can eat just fine, I was so worried you would have to go without food and that we wouldn't be able to-“

Izuku drowned her out instantly.

_What did she say?_

He must have misheard her, there's no other way.

_B-blood?_

It had to be a mistake, It simply _had_ to be.

Part of him told him it was impossible for him to have misheard with his sensitive hearing, but he denied it, the magical juice didn't taste like blood at all. Izuku knew for a fact it didn't, blood smelled like copper and was gross and repulsive, _nothing_ like the godly fragrance and flavor of the magic juice.

It was just impossible. _Silly mom._

 ** _Ask her then._** His rational side said. **_If you really misheard there should be no problem, right?_**

Right?

He had to do it, for his sanity. "M-mom, what did you just say?"

"Hm? What's wrong sweetie?" She was blissfully unaware, too engrossed with her relief to notice the way her son was starting to shake.

Kanou facepalmed so _hard_ it almost left a mark on his face. _There goes my plan of slowly easing him into the idea of drinking blood._ The doctor had silently hoped the boy had just outright missed the slip up, but now he was going to have to salvage this situation somehow.

"Uh right, Izuku-kun, I suppose I should tell you what's in the vial huh?" He did his best to sound oblivious to the _very_ _obvious_ crisis the child was going through.

"N-no wait, its- I don't want…" Izuku was struggling to even form a proper sentence, eyes gone impossibly wide in shock as the shaking increased.

He felt very, _very_ sick all of a sudden.

The doctor knew it would only get worse if he left the boy to figure it out on his own now. "I'll just stop beating around the bush, the liquid you need to survive is human blood."

Another unbearable silence fell upon them, as both adults did their best to analyze Izuku's reaction, which didn't give off much; his face had gone totally unreadable after the doctor had confirmed what he had heard, with his eyes now glued to the ground, the shaking continued.

It took a while for him to say anything, and when he did it was barely more than a whisper.

"… _Liar_."

"H-huh? I couldn't quite hear you." Kanou replied, slightly on-guard.

"I said THAT YOU'RE LYING!" The child’s voice suddenly went up multiple octaves, turning his prior whispers into loud screeches.

When the child swung his head to look up at them they were met with a peculiar sight, crimson tears were staining his cheeks. It would seem that change was there to stay, no matter the state his eyes were in.

Inko moved to hug her son in hopes to calm him down, but he refused, taking multiple steps back. "YOU'RE LYING TO ME, I DON'T NEED TO DRINK _BLOOD_." He screeched hysterically.

Kanou cursed himself for allowing everything to escalate to this point, he'd gotten complacent yet _again_. Izuku was a good kid: more understanding and polite than most. But that did not change the fact he remained a child, Kanou really should not have expected him to take this news well at all, especially considering how enamored with heroes the boy was.

Why was it he made so many mistakes when it came to this boy? Kanou already knew the answer to that question. _This boy is so different from any other kid I've had to deal with, I don't know how to deal with him..._

He frantically looked over at the boy in question who was now shaking uncontrollably as he slumped against the wall furthest removed from them. "I-I'M NOT A M-MONSTER **I DON'T WANT BLOOD**." He sobbed. "I WANT TO BE A-A **HERO** NOT A _V-VILLAIN._ "

 _H-how do I fix this? Do I act stern or do I play nice? N-no that's if he'll even listen to me…_ Kanou was at a complete loss on how to deal with this unfamiliar situation, he wasn't used to handling such strong emotional outbreaks- normally he prevented them altogether.

"WHY WOULD YOU SAY SUCH A **_DIRTY LIE_**?!" His sobbing increased at an exponential rate, the situation had devolved into an absolute mess.

The doctor finally came to the conclusion he'd have to get a colleague better suited for this to calm him down, he was out of his depth, and he knew when something was too much for him to handle. He prepared to move towards one of the adjacent doors, until a commanding shout echoed throughout the room.

"MIDORIYA IZUKU!"

To Kanou's bewilderment, the boy momentarily stopped his crying at the sound of his mother's yell. He looked up at her with fragility clearly visible in his eyes

Inko didn't hesitate to take this opportunity to get closer and to envelop him in a tight hug, he didn't resist as much this time, instead melting in her arms.

"You're not a monster, or a villain." She grabbed a handkerchief out of her purse and wiped away his tears, ignoring the red stains they left on the white cloth. "You're my cute, sweet, adorable, and loving boy who just so happens to need some blood to be able to live, nothing more." She whispered.

Tears started flowing once again at the mention of blood. "B-but only- only monsters need to drink blood." He clasped his hand against his mouth. "An- and I thought it was delicious, it-it tasted s-so good mom, s-so so good." His voice hitched.

Inko blinked away tears herself. She wanted to tell him that it was normal and not something to feel bad about, but that would be a lie. She couldn't lie to him right now, she would never forgive herself.

Drinking blood has always been associated with monsters and evil other-worldly creatures. The appearance of quirks hadn't altered that view much, mainly because the amount of quirks that _actively_ force the consumption of blood are incredibly rare. He will most likely feel alone and ostracized in a world where something like blood drinking is considered evil. He'll be judged unfairly.

But that doesn't mean he has to live his life hating himself for something he has no control over, Inko simply wouldn't allow it. "Yes you like blood, but you can't do anything about that can you?" She cupped his face gently so he would look her in the eyes. "You didn't choose your quirk to be like that, it just happened, and the reality is that we'll just have to live with that."

The tears were gradually decreasing as Izuku listened to his mother's words, her calm demeanor was putting him at ease. "B-but people aren't gonna want to be friends with me… K-Kacchan might be scared of me! I-I don't want that. I want to be a hero, but my quirk is… is _evil_ …"

Kanou numbly figured he wasn't entirely wrong, _kids these days can be very judgmental when it comes to what type of quirk you have, and while Bakugou-kun doesn't seem like the type to care much, the other children definitely will._ He was interested in seeing how Inko would respond, she was handling the situation masterfully and he was grateful for that.

"You're not wrong sweetie," Inko allowed. "your quirk may be seen as evil by some, but that doesn't matter. No one is born with an evil quirk, it's how you use it that matters." She ruffled his hair. "And you want to be a hero don't you? That's not evil at all!"

Izuku could feel his eyes drooping as a small smile adorned his lips. "… Can I… can I even _become a hero even though I drink blood?_ " He whispered.

"Hm? What was that sweetie?" She couldn't hear him, his eyes were closing.

" _I… become… zzz_ "

She smiled motherly at her snoring son. "He fell asleep, that tantrum must've tired him."

Kanou had to keep himself from clapping. "That… outstanding. You knew exactly what to say and how to calm him when I had no idea what to do."

Inko grinned sheepishly at the praise. "D-don't belittle yourself doctor, Izuku sometimes gets like this. He tends to bottle up his emotions a lot, and when he inevitably reaches his limit he just… explodes like that." She said, now frowning as she lifted her son carefully. "I worry about him—Katsuki-kun mentions it too: Izuku just soaks everything up like a sponge, he barely defends himself whenever he's bullied and he never speaks his mind to anyone but Katsuki-kun."

She carried him over to the bed, and put him down gently, making sure to cover him with the thin blanket. Kanou followed and listened silently. "I'm afraid that if the other children were to figure out about the blood aspect of his quirk he'd be targeted even more." She rubbed at her face tiredly. "I know he has Katsuki-kun to rely on but they won't always be together, there are going to be times when times they'll be separated in class or that someone with bad intentions will split them up on purpose, then he'll just be left wide open for anyone to bully. All I want is for him to be happy." The mother said, emotionally spent.

"I see…" Kanou replied, honestly not sure how to respond to the complexity of her situation. "It must be difficult, if I may ask, are you by chance raising him on your own?" He hadn't heard her mention a father once.

"Most of the time." She answered. "My husband's job requires him to work overseas. But he makes sure to visit whenever he can, which is about 1-2 weeks every 6-8 months. It's a bit unconventional but it works well enough."

"That's good to hear then."

"Thank you. But what do we do now?" She gestured towards her son. "He looks like he's in a deep sleep, I don't think waking him up now is a good idea."

"That's fine, we were done testing anyways." He checked his watch, and realized it was already 12:23. "We've been here longer than I had expected, we should probably start wrapping up." He doctor put the plate with the still untouched second slice back in the fridge.

Inko checked the time for herself. _Geez it's already been almost 2 hours since we got here. "_ Y-yes that's for the best, but what is going to happen now that we know he needs blood to be able to eat anything?"

Izuku stirred a little.

Kanou scratched the back of his head as he thought it over. "I've thought about it, and for now I believe the first priority is to find out how long he lasts on 250 milliliters of blood. He should have gotten a little more than that today so we just need to wait for when he starts showing symptoms of not being able to eat his food. That's how we learn his limit."

Inko hummed in agreement, but something was still bugging her. "That makes sense. But I was wondering what was inside the two vials before the blood, I don't think you ever told us and it's been on my mind."

"Oh, yeah." He felt stupid for forgetting. "The first was artificial blood and the second was animal blood."

"A-ah, I see… Why exactly?"

"I wanted to test if those would have worked as replacements of sorts, but from what Izuku told us they were apparently 'missing something important'." He showed her his notes, as he joined her next to the bed. "I have no idea as to what that certain 'something' could be, but that's not really important now. Our focus should be on making sure we understand his quirk well enough, so the government has enough reason to permit giving Izuku human blood from now on."

Inko hadn't actually thought that far ahead yet. "What do you mean? Doesn't it technically classify as a quirk induced necessity? It's within his right to get the necessary blood to survive isn't it?"

After the quirk laws had just been implemented, a lot of mutations quirk types were very unhappy with the lack of support they received from the government when it came to the special necessities that they needed because of their quirk. Only after a three year debate, was official support added into the law.

Because mutation type quirks often change a lot in the biology and anatomy of a person, they sometimes require special nourishment or certain items or environments to be able to live a healthy life. These are classified as 'Quirk induced necessities'. This means that if someone for example needs to eat coal in order to live because of their quirk, the government is legally obligated to provide that person enough coal to healthily live of off.

Inko was sure that was the gist of it, so then why would there be a problem with giving some blood to her son when he obviously needed it to survive?

"That's exactly what I thought as well, but for this specific case it's different. Let me show you." He went through his tablet to open a file, and stepped closer so Inko could see. "When I looked up the details concerning what the government is forced to provide, I found that the criteria are divided into two categories: organic and inorganic. They're a lot more strict with organic things than they are with inorganic, considering the fact organic wares are more difficult to deal with for multiple reasons."

Inko nodded along as the doctor explained. "I assume blood is considered organic."

"Yes, it is. But even then, blood is considered in a tier of it's own in terms of how strict they are with it. I suppose you could say they aren't fond of just giving it out willy-nilly." He scratched his stubbly chin.

Inko couldn't help but think that was incredibly stupid. "That doesn't make any sense, what makes it special aside from the fact it needs to be donated? There should be countless donors right?" It really didn't make logical sense.

Kanou swiped through the file some more. "You are correct in that it's not really about them running low on blood anytime soon, it's more of a social problem. You see, people that _truly_ require blood to live are already few and far between, and of those that need it and are eligible for gaining support…" He suddenly stopped scrolling at what looked to be a chart.

"Most of them become villains or get into crime because they want even _more_ , to them blood becomes more of a drug than an actual necessity. To the point they turn to crime." The ratio was astonishing: 81% of the people that requested for blood from the government ended up as either villains or thugs.

This was a little concerning for Inko, she could feel herself fidget with her purse a little. _I-Izuku isn't like them, he just needs a bit of blood to survive, he wouldn't hurt anyone._

Suddenly, images of the disturbing way Izuku acted when he drank blood popped into her mind.

She wasn't so certain now. _Is it really like a drug to them? N-no even still…_

"Isn't that a faulty mindset however? If those people had it in them to become a villain then they would have become a villain either way; blood or not."

Kanou considered her words for a brief moment before he shook his head. "I get what you're saying, but think of it this way. Normal drugs are limited by the fact they are relatively hard to come by— it's illegal to be in possession of drugs. This means that for a lot of people it's a big hassle to even get hold of any."

He grabbed his stylus and opened a drawing app, crudely drawing a stick-figure with a pile of syringes that reached to his ankles. Next to it he wrote 'low temptation'.

"The difference with blood is that it comes from humans; humans are _everywhere_ and are the only source of it that they can consume. Going outside becomes a constant temptation for the weaker minded—something so addicting within fingers reach. Those people have a high chance of eventually snapping and just resorting to assaulting people for their blood, they effectively turn to villainy because the temptation is too strong."

Beneath the other figure he drew a stick-figure drowning in blood, next to it he wrote 'extreme temptation'

Inko swallowed, it made sense when you thought of it like that. "Th-then what do we do? Is it even plausible for normal people to get the support?"

"Of course." He assured. "But those people don't require a high amount to survive. That's why it's important that Izuku-kun doesn't end up needing too much, otherwise they'll definitely keep a constant eye on him.” He drew a bunch of ominous eyes surrounding the drowning stick-figure. “If they find out he needs more than they think is safe to give, they’ll grow extremely suspicious.”

He turned away from his tablet to look at her, his expression grim. “Trust me when I say that you really, _really_ don’t want that. The moment they suspect that Izuku’s need for blood is growing out of hand, he’ll be put under watch.”

“Wh-why?” Inko asked softly, even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

The man sighed. “They’ll effectively be preparing for him to turn rogue—to enter the crime world and become a villain in order to sate what they assume is his impulsive desire for blood. Consider it as them preparing to fill up his criminal record, even if he hasn’t technically done anything wrong.” He rubbed at his temples. “If god forbid it ever gets to that point, it’ll become nigh-on impossible to apply for certain schools or jobs simply because he’s on that secret watchlist, no company wants anything to do with what they’re told by the government is a ticking time bomb."

Kanou quickly noticed that the mother had paled considerably. He mentally winced at his lack of tact. _Shit._ I _made it sound like her son is destined to go to jail…_

"It's not that bad however!" He hurried to reassure her. "Those are still pretty extreme cases, and the amount they provide should be more than enough for Izuku to live of off, just make sure to keep his consumption from going too high, and to not suddenly request a drastically larger amount. Everything should be A-Okay if you just remain careful."

He tapped his fist against his chest in a show of confidence. "And you won't have to worry about the requesting process, I will handle all that, I'll be sure to contact you on my progress. Although speaking of contact." He said, pulling out his phone as he went on. "Is it fine if I use the number we have registered to call you or would you prefer I use a separate one?"

"Oh," Inko snapped out of her daze and looked away from the crude drawings on the tablet, she hadn't thought of that. "yes it would probably be more convenient if I gave you the number for the housephone as well."

As they exchanged contact information, Inko thought over everything they discussed. _Did we cover everything?_ She mentally summed everything up. _Eye test is tomorrow, Kanou-san will contact me once he has any news on the appeal, Izuku can eat when he drinks enough blood…_ She still felt uneasy at that thought, she really had to do something about that quick. _I can't show any hesitation now when he needs me most, he shouldn't be ashamed of his quirk…_ She paused. _He has to go to school soon, will they know about his quirk?_

"One more thing doctor." She said. "To what extent will the school be informed about his quirk?"

"Good point." He replied, already giving her an apologetic smile. "Unfortunately any school he'll attend has to know the full extent of his quirk, it has to do with safety reasons and all that." Her face fell. " _But_ , what you can do is request for them to not mention his need for blood. They would most likely understand if you explained the situation around his quirk, it's not that uncommon of a request so it should go without trouble."

Inko put a reminder on her phone to call the school about it, but she felt she missed an important detail. "Speaking of his quirk, I don't think you mentioned what it's official name was?" It would be troublesome if she didn't even know the name of her son's quirk.

He blinked dubiously. "Did I really not?" He furrowed his brows in thought. "Actually I don't think I did, I meant to tell you it after we went through the comparison chart."

"Then it's most likely my fault." She said, slightly embarrassed. "I should've been more calm when I read the whole thing about blood and all…"

Kanou waved his hands. "It's no matter." He lead her to one of the tables and pulled a newspaper out of his coat, spreading it over the foldable furniture’s surface. "The Aogiri group used to go by many different aliases."

Inko read the headline. ' _Feared Tokyo Ghouls strike ward 20 once again'_

He spread his arms out as if presenting something. "The most popular and frequently used one was ' _Tokyo Ghouls_ ', and since Izuku's quirk is related, if not the same as theirs, the only proper name for his quirk would be…"

"Ghoul." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today I learned that you can’t set the publication date in the future...
> 
> Sorry about the slight delay, I’d originally thought the publication feature would allow you to set a chapter to auto release on the day you put it on, and had just left it at that. Well, I was wrong, but at least I now know not to make the same mistake with the next chapter, so it should be out on Sunday.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku worries about his fate  
> Mitsuki lectures her son.  
> And the boys get to have a talk.

* * *

**~~Last~~ Respite**

* * *

Izuku was unsure if he should be grateful for his enhanced hearing or if he should curse it.

He was lying on his bed, hands covering his eyes from the orange rays of light still peeking through his All Might branded curtains as he re-evaluated everything the doctor had discussed with them.

Or rather, discussed with his mom. Izuku had not actually been an _active_ part of that particular conversation.

He really wanted to believe he hadn't done it on purpose, but he knew that was just a blatant lie. If he truly hadn't meant to listen in on them, he could've just gotten up and told them they had been talking too loud, instead he pretended to still be sleeping while he eavesdropped.

In retrospect, Izuku wasn't sure what possessed him to do it. He always strived to be honest and so far he couldn't lie to save his life; Katsuki and his mom always caught him whenever he—albeit rarely—tried to deceive either of them.

However for some odd reason when he considered getting up, it was almost as if his instincts had been screaming at him to stay quiet and to commit everything they were talking about to memory.

After listening in, he wasn't so sure he regretted eavesdropping. What they talked about was _pivotal_ knowledge for him, especially because it explained the large consequences that came with his quirk.

The boy had used the ride back home to reflect on everything, and the conclusion he came to wasn't pretty. He was going to have to be _very_ careful in the f. uture

"Once the government starts giving me blood I need to be careful that I don't get greedy." He muttered to himself. "Kanou-san said not to worry about it but those numbers don't lie, the government knows that…"

He turned over in his bed, feeling extremely restless. "Once they even get a hint that I might want or need more than they are willing to provide they'll put me on some sort of watchlist." His voice hitched slightly. "That's what Kanou-san said, but I don't want that at all! How will I become a hero when I'm treated like I'm some kind of wild animal that is on the verge of assaulting anyone for… for their blood?"

Izuku subconsciously drooled at the thought, before quickly wiping away the saliva on his sleeve. The boy was absolutely disgusted with himself.

"What… what if they are actually right?" He whispered to himself, clutching his head despairingly as he curled into himself. "What if I _am_ a monster that needs to be watched or put behind bars?"

That thought hurt, it hurt _a lot_ , but Izuku had to acknowledge it as a possibility. The first time he drank the crimson liquid he felt like he was in heaven and had instantly wanted... more. It satisfied a hunger in him he hadn't known he had- or most likely didn't have at all before his quirk developed. Izuku didn't know what it was like to be addicted to something, but he felt this was scarily close to the descriptions he heard when people talked about it.

Raw, pure panic swirled in his gut. Was his life over already? Was he to be judged for something out of his control just because he didn't conform to this society's standards? Izuku got very bitter at the thought as he scowled uncharacteristically at nothing in particular. _They always go on about how accepting humanity has become since the appearance of quirks, how people aren't judged by their appearance anymore and that it's okay to be different._

Izuku scoffed at the hypocrisy. "Yet those who are quirkless and those with quirks that are judged to be villainous still suffer daily." It was very obvious in the current generation of children, the strongest fear toddlers these days have is not the dark, nor some evil closet-monster.

No, it was either to end up quirkless or to develop an unwanted quirk.

Izuku reluctantly had to admit he had been one of them, especially with his dream to become a hero alongside his friend. Ending up quirkless would've ruined him, so he had been so happy to have been told he had one when he woke up in the hospital. It was enlightening and he had felt a burden slipping off his young shoulders.

But when he found out he would be needing blood to survive from now on he realized he was dealt an even _worse_ hand.

Quirkless people are bullied and made fun of. After all, it's not like they _can_ do anything about it can they? The higher-ups know this and barely bother with them, they just have to wait a few more decades and the number of them will be negligible. So they are mostly left alone.

But it's a radically different story when it comes to volatile quirks—they are capable of fighting back, which in turn means the government can't afford to just let them be. They have to prepare to retaliate for when that happens, and from what Kanou said, it was clear that did that by constantly monitoring people they suspect of rebelling. Making absolutely sure they don't go out of sight, don't step out of line and don't do anything that might cause the government harm. But also preparing to end you the moment you do.

You essentially become a caged animal, only because you have a quirk that they view as dangerous.

Izuku decided to sit up, the anxiety was causing his breathing to become sporadic and ragged, and staying in bed certainly wasn't helping.

He moved himself over and sat on the edge of his bed, placing his bare feet firmly on the frigid wooden planks. The coldness felt good against his feverishly warm skin, it made him feel grounded, and that was what he desperately needed now.

He stared numbly at the All Might poster on his wall in an attempt to calm his breathing, he only had one right now, but he would be damned if he didn't complete the collection. Even in his anxious state, he couldn't help the little smile that tugged on his lips when he looked at his favorite hero.

 _'A true hero saves people with a smile!'_ The number one’s voice suddenly echoed through his head.

He shook his head fiercely and slapped his cheeks a few times, leaving red marks. "I-I can't keep thinking like this!" He got up, ignoring the black spots in his vision from getting up so quickly. "If I want to become a hero I can't let this bring me down, right All Might?" He faced one of his All Might figures and grabbed it, he shook it as if it was speaking back at him. " ** _But of course young Izuku! A true hero overcomes all struggles_** _!"_ He said, imitating All Might to the best of his ability. (Which wasn't very accurate considering the man's incredibly deep voice.)

"You're right! So I just need to find a solution to this, I _have_ to, or else…" He trailed off, excitement and determination dwindling as he unintenionally reminded himself of the grave consequences, if he were to fail. _Or else I won't be able to live a normal live, let alone become a hero…_

During his brooding his eyes absentmindedly hovered over his desk, it was a little disorganized; ridden with multiple different toys, devices and schoolbooks. Until his eyes rested on a notebook, it was different from his school notebooks in that on the cover in simple hiragana it said 'Hero analysis for the future!'.

It was the notebook he recently started writing in. His writing was still a little sloppy but he was picking it up faster than the other kids, even Katsuki. Teruko-sensei had said it seemed to come naturally to him and that he was already on the level of someone a grade higher, Izuku didn't really know what he meant by that but he _did_ enjoy writing down the things he thought about. Which in the case of this notebook were his analyses on heroes.

Now distracted by his latest hobby, he moved over to his chair and sat down, scooting it forward a little so he sat comfortably against his desk. He opened the hero analysis notebook and read it with slightly squinted eyes, he sighed as he realized that he was really gonna need those glasses.

His very first entree was no one else but All Might of course, on the first page was a surprisingly detailed drawing of the number one hero- courtesy of the young Midoriya himself. Next to it were laps of text covering subjects ranging from personality, appearance, ranking, strengths and weaknesses. Though for All Might he (luckily) couldn't really find any weaknesses, so it was left empty.

He originally wanted to add a section dedicated to theories and more in-depth observations on the capabilities of the quirks, but he found his current vocabulaire to be a little lacking, evident by the copious amounts of 'BOOM' 'POW' and 'ZAP' he used when he had tried it for the first time. His mom could barely understand anything when he asked her to read it, she was starting to fear it was some kind of 'American gang-slang' he'd learned off of the internet. So he decided to leave that for when he was a little older.

Izuku snickered as he remembered it, even if she hadn't understood anything she was still immensely proud of him. His mom always supported him fully, it made the fact that his dad couldn't always be here a lot more bearable for the child. He obviously still wished his father would be home more often but he understood that he couldn't because of work, he didn't think any less of him for it.

He glanced at one of the family photos on a higher shelf. His parents were all the more reason he couldn't mess up, he simply couldn't bear disappointing them like that, especially considering his mom wouldn't be able to take it. She could be very delicate when it came to him, which made Izuku all the more grateful that he had managed to catch their conversation; he knew for a fact she wouldn't have told him the more grim details, most likely not wishing to place those burdens on him.

And she was honestly right in her reluctance, Izuku felt incredibly stressed now, in fact, he almost suffered a panic attack while he was feigning sleep. He managed to push it down, but the immense feeling of dread never left him.

It was a heavy burden, but a burden he would have to carry nonetheless. "I need to survive..." He subconsciously clenched his fists as determination returned to him. "I _have_ to survive while staying under the radar. I have to limit my blood intake and make sure that I don't draw too much bad attention to myself."

He stared into his notebook until an idea suddenly popped into his head.

He jumped off his chair and dashed towards his bookcase, he pulled another notebook out of a cardboard box and returned to his desk.

"I'll need another notebook, one that'll help me cope with my quirk." He grabbed a pen and cupped his chin in thought. "But I'll need a name first…"

He considered a few that came to mind, but eventually decided to go with something simple.

"Hmm how do I go about spelling that again…" He mumbled, scratching his head with the pen. "I guess like this…" He wrote as neatly as he could.

"Aaand…" He finished with a last pencil swipe. "Done!"

He lifted the new notebook closer and inspected his handiwork pridefully. 'Ghoul analysis for survival'. "With this I should be able to manage." He smiled at the notebook, and turned to glance out of the window, noting that the sun was setting. "Mom's probably gonna come get me for food soon, I wanna write a little in it before we eat."

It felt a little odd to say he could eat again, he'd been expecting the worst after he puked out his diner the last time. But he ended up somewhat okay, if you ignored his newly developed blood-lust.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he started scribbling in his new notebook with new-found fervor, having already put his prior bitterness and anxiety behind him in favor of his new hobby.

* * *

Inko knew she shouldn't have to be nervous, especially because Izuku had calmed down considerably after he woke up from his tantrum-induced nap. If he was calm it only made sense if she was the same right? Yet she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she got as she watched her son sniff the food curiously.

As a celebration of sorts she had prepared Katsudon again, this time in the hopes of having a normal dinner.

"Did you put in extra soy sauce?" He asked.

She blinked. _Right, his smell is stronger, stop forgetting!_ "I might have sweetie, d-does it smell bad?"

"No mom, I was just wondering." He reassured her with a smile. "It smells good."

This calmed down her nerves considerably, last time he had given her a much more vague description. "Alright then, let's dig in shall we?"

Izuku nodded, taking one last sniff before lifting some of the rice. "Thanks for the meal." He said automatically and placed the food into his mouth, Inko paused to view his reaction.

A silence fell upon them as he chewed, one that only disappeared when he finally swallowed without fuss. Inko let out a small sigh of relief, she hadn't been hallucinating back in the examination room, he really _could_ eat normally.

However she was surprised to see a… forlorn look on her son's face after he swallowed. "What's wrong sweetie? You didn't force it down did you?"

Izuku shook his head. "That's not it…" He seemed to gather his thoughts for a second. "It's just that it tastes a little bland, just like the sandwich." When his mother's expression morphed into concern he hurried to explain what he meant. "Like I said! It doesn't really taste bad, it's just not as good as it used to be before I got my quirk... It's still really good though!" He added hastily. It was a bit of an overstatement, but he wouldn't admit that.

"I see… that's regrettable." She rubbed her hands together, working the nervousness out of her system. "But what's important is that we can still eat together." She beamed happily and started on her own food. "Enough talking though, it's gonna get cold otherwise." Izuku agreed and continued with his favorite dish. They ate in comfortable silence for the rest of the diner, and Inko was once again happy that her son was with her, safe and sound.

After they finished she quickly cleared the table and washed some of the dishes, putting others in the dish washer. When she entered the living room again she found that Izuku hand't moved from his spot at all, the only movement had been him shiftingin his seat at the sound of her entering the living room. She eyed him curiously. _Is something still bothering him?_

She sat down next to him, and was going to ask him if he was okay but was beaten to the punch. "M-mom…"

"Yes honey?"

"About my quirk…" He uttered, unsure how to continue.

He was having a hard time voicing his thoughts, Inko decided to throw him a bone. "Oh right, you don't know what it's called yet." She smiled sheepishly. "The doctor told me while you were sleeping."

He flinched.

Inko arched and eyebrow. _Was he angry that we talked about it without him?_ She decided to ignore it. "Your quirk is called 'Ghoul'."

"I-I see…" His voice barely a whisper, the boy was observing the floor with great interest.

Inko paid him no mind and sighed a little dejectedly. "I told him it was too frightening of a name, but Kanou-san said he had already sent the name and description to the registry and that he couldn't change it now without having to go through a lot of trouble." She rubbed her neck tiredly. "Atleast he'll be the one requesting the governmental support for the blood, I really don't have the energy for that right now."

Izuku nodded along, feigning interest to the best of his ability. Inko wasn't daft though, this boy was her son and she easily picked up the distraught way he tugged at the hem of his shirt. She knew without a doubt that something was still on his mind and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You can tell me what's wrong Izuku."

The boy in question finally looked her in the eyes for the first time since they turned back to normal. Inko had to use all her willpower to withhold herself from flinching visibly when she properly looked into his green orbs and saw how much they had dulled.

The former sharp, briliant eyes she had been so proud of had fogged over ever-so-slightly, causing them to appear more dim than they had before. She grudgingly understood this must have been because of his slight vision loss, and she mentally damned the man that caused her son to lose his bright eyes to hell.

Izuku misunderstood the emotion showing on his mother's countenance as concern and decided to open up about his worries, for her sake. "Mom… What's gonna happen when I have to go to school again?"

He'd heard them talk about the fact that the school would have to know about his quirk, but was still a little troubled at the lack of details.

Inko forced herself out of her seething state and did her best to not let any of it show in her tone, she didn't want him to think he was the cause of it. "Sch-school, honey? You mean with your quirk?"

He nodded glumly.

"Well." She took one last breath, successfully forcing the anger out of her. "I called Teruko-sensei while you were sleeping." His eyes lit up at the familiar name and hoped for good news. "He told me that he understood the importance of not telling the other children of your blood-drinking, but he also said you still need to give a short description of your quirk. All children are required to do that when they awaken their quirk so they sadly can't make an exception for us."

Izuku dipped his head. _I guess I'll be forced to tell them about my quirk… I can kinda remember Kacchan's showcase, it was pretty cool._ The blonde had managed impress most of the children with his little display. Izuku on the other hand had trouble even thinking of what to say, he already felt really nervous.

Sensing his distress, Inko gave him a tight hug. "Don't worry, you'll do great. Just show them your pretty red eyes and how strong you've gotten and they'll think it's great." She gave him a kiss on the forehead. "And even if they don't, you know I will always think you're cool." Inko couldn't look at just the negatives; his normal eyes may have dimmed a little, but his quirk gives him wonderfully beautiful red ones.

The toddler blushed, a little embarrassed at her steadfast support but appreciative either way. "Thanks mom."

Their little moment went on for a few minutes, but were suddenly spooked by a loud ringing coming from Inko's phone. Both the Midoriyas jumped at the sudden interruption and Inko scrambled over the table to reach the device in hopes of putting a stop to the accursed sound.

It was a call, and from the large letters on the display Inko understood Mitsuki was the one calling her. She didn't hesitate to pick up. "Hey Mitsuchi, what's up?"

Izuku eyed his mother intently at the mention of his surrogate aunt, he made sure to pay attention to the conversation, and managed to pick up Mitsuki's voice through the phone.

Mitsuki's loud voice sounded out of the phone. "Inko-chan! Why didn't you pick up my calls, I was calling all day!"

Inko chuckled and moved the device a little further away from her ear. "And with 'all day' you actually mean?"

"Ugh fine." Mitsuki admitted with a huff. "I called around noon."

 _That makes more sense._ Inko supposed. "Well you should've picked a better time sweetie, we were still at the doctor, my phone was silenced."

"Wait really?" Surprise was audible in her voice. "I called around twelve thirty, you were there for _two_ hours?

"Basically, it took longer than we had expected."

A brief moment of silence passed by as Mitsuki took in Inko's words. "I see…" She finally said. Inko knew that her tone actually meant: 'I'm not going to say anything right now but I'll question you later', and didn't say anything—she'd explain if she asked, but not in front of Izuku.

So she changed the topic. "What was the reason for your calls to begin with? Did something happen?"

Mitsuki chuckled at her worry. "No dearie, I'm fine. The reason I called was because my brat was nagging me to call you after we got back from our little shopping excursi-"A loud groan on Mitsuki's side interrupted the feisty mother, only after a select few curses and the sound of shuffling feet did she continue. "As I was saying, the ungrateful _RAT-"_ A pause, all background noises coming from Mitsuki's side ceased. _"-_ wants to know if it's possible to visit tomorrow."

Inko sweat-dropped at the derogatory way Mitsuki referred to her son—who was most likely trying to listen in on the conversation as they spoke—and absently wondered what was going on on Mitsuki's side while she considered the boy's request.

Obviously, she had predicted that either of the two would want to see eachother eventually, she expected one of them to ask tomorrow, but not _this_ soon. However she understood that the explosive boy must've also been worried for Izuku.

After thinking about it she decided it was up to Izuku to decide; if he wanted to she would allow it. He seemed to be doing better after he woke up from his nap so she was sure his state was improving.

She wondered if Izuku already heard what Mitsuki had said, after glancing at him his pensive expression proved her right, he was most likely considering his answer, so she gave her son the time to think.

Meanwhile Izuku was shocked at how indecisive he was about this, shouldn't he be happy to meet his friend so soon? Why was he even considering saying no? They always had fun together so it wasn't a matter of not being in the mood, heck it would probably be beneficial for him. Was he too tired?

No, Izuku knew deep within that he was scared. He was scared of telling his friend about his quirk, telling him how his quirk forces him to do something as villainous as drinking blood, telling him he can't eat anything unless he drinks a glass of it.

He didn't want to be rejected, judged, abandoned by his only true friend. The fact of the matter is that it would break him, he knew without a doubt that he wouldn't recover from the fallout he was sure it would cause.

 ** _But if he abandons you then you have no hope to begin with, do you?_** He heard a cold but rational voice whisper in his mind. _**He's your best friend, if he rejects you everyone will reject you.** **You have everything to lose wether you tell him or not, so it's better to get it out of the way now and know if you'll have a true friend to support you later on.**_

Izuku wanted to disagree, but he knew that part of him was right to an extent. He'd have to tell Katsuki _eventually_ if he really wanted to stay friends, he was already a terrible liar so having Katsuki find out on his own would only worsen the blow.

He'd try to do what he was good at; he'd be honest, then he'd at least be true to himself.

"I'd like to see him." He finally answered.

Inko observed him a little longer, it had taken him longer to come to an answer than she had expected. Maybe he was still nervous about telling his friend about his quirk. _Oh well, he said yes so I'll just have to respect his decision._ "Katsuki-kun can come tomorrow. But it'll have to be after noon." _We have the optician appointment at 10 o'clock, can't forget that_.

"That's too ba- wait really?" The blonde sounded rather surprised.

"Yes Mitsuchi, you and Katsuki-kun can come over tomorrow." She frowned. "You're not drunk off your ass before it's actually evening, are you?"

Mitsuki spluttered. "W-what? No!" The blonde calmed herself, ignoring the odd look Katsuki was giving her and Izuku's giggles from Inko's side. "I'm just surprised that you're actually allowing it, I was expecting you to force Izu-chan get some rest for the next couple days." The blonde explained.

"I suppose that's true." Inko allowed. "But Izuku decided for himself that he wanted to see Katsuki-kun, so I can make an exception for once. Besides, it's not like I'm going to allow them to jump around or anything, they can just watch TV or something. Be sure to tell him that."

Mitsuki hummed. "Makes sense, heard that brat? You're gonna be obedient tomorrow, or else!"

Inko was glad Mitsuki had enough self awareness to at least move the phone away from her face before she started needlessly shouting at her offspring (Unaware that said offspring was now running circles around Mitsuki). "Jeez Mitsuchi, it's not like Katsuki-kun is always loud. He and Izuku are both quiet when they watch television, you know that."

"Huh!? Don't defend the brat Inko! You wanna know what the little scoundrel said in the morning?!"

She didn't wait for an answer and instantly recounted everything, making sure to make the story as biased in her favor as possible. Inko could only smile wryly at her friend's insistence that her son should be sent to the army so they can 'teach him some manners'. _Sometimes I wonder wether she's joking or not..._

Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed that Izuku was already making his way back to his room, she waved at him and sat down on the couch. Listening intently to the other's ramblings, she turned pale when the story was finished and she processed everything.

"He said _what?_ "

* * *

The following morning went by quick, they got up, had breakfast, refreshed themselves and got clothed in the span of an hour and with 20 minutes to get to the hospital.

They made it to the Hosu general hospital with a few moments to spare, and Inko could tell Izuku was a little anxious.

"Izuku, this isn't something to be nervous about." She pulled him closer. "They are only going to measure the strength of your eyes, so they can make lenses that'll allow you to see like normal again."

He didn't seem all too convinced, Inko sighed. "Trust me on this sweetie, you even get to choose what they look like. You can have any color you want in multiple different styles, you'll definitely find one you'll like."

The fact he could choose himself eased him up a little, just in time for them to finally get called upon.

Izuku noted that the eye test was similar to the one he had done yesterday, with the only difference being that he also had to look into some weird machine, and was told to say which colors he could see clearly or not. It was an odd experience, but not a bad one.

Following that, one of the nurses told them he was 'nearsighted' and his eyes were '-4.3' or something, he didn't really understand most of it aside from the fact that it most likely wasn't great news, if his mom's slightly miffed expression was anything to go by.

The fun part came after they measured his face and he was lead to a device with a touchscreen, the nurse told him to choose what he wanted his glasses to look like. He instantly went through all the options, but was left a little disappointed when he found that none of them were All Might branded. After his original (and only) plan of getting All Might themed glasses were thwarted he asked his mom to help him with the selection.

In the end they chose a red, kid-friendly full-rimmed frame, it was a somewhat bulky build but it would easily be capable of enduring the rough and energetic way toddlers like to play. After they told the nurse that this would be their pick, she asked them to wait 15 minutes for them to produce it.

The red glasses ended up matching well with his red sneakers and they were both content with the final product. Izuku was fascinated with how they really _did_ improve his sight, he was staring out of the car window while continuously moving the lenses to and from his eyes, comparing his vision with them on and off.

"And, how do you like them?" Inko asked. Inwardly happy that the glasses hid some of the dullness in his eyes.

He put them back on and turned away from the window to face her with a content smile. "They're nice, but I could still see better with my quirk."

Inko raised a brow. "Speaking of your quirk sweetie, did you find out how to activate your eyes again?"

Izuku blinked, he hadn't really considered doing that yet, mostly because he had no idea _how._ This whole quirk thing was still new to him and he was clueless how to go about activating something he didn't even _have_ before. "I uh, I don't really know how." He admitted.

Inko inclined her head, keeping her eyes on the road. "That's fine honey, it comes different to every person so you don't have to worry about it being a little difficult for you. It's a good thing Katsuki-kun's coming over after this, Mitsuchi said he's allowed to use his quirk again so maybe he can give you a few pointers."

"That's probably a good idea." He agreed.

After some more small talk with his mom he turned back to the window, and mentally prepared himself for the meeting with his friend.

* * *

Katsuki was pretty excited to see Izuku again, he knew that the last time they saw eachother was only 2 days ago, but it felt much longer than that.

He figured that was most likely because of the insanely long shopping trip they'd gone on yesterday. After he was caught, Mitsuki deliberately decided she'd extend the duration of the trip. So instead of her original plan of taking a quick stroll through the smaller Musutafu mall, she forced the male Bakugous to accompany her to the much larger Kiyashi ward shopping district.

The only good that came from the trip was the spiteful delight he got from seeing his father's energy drain from his face as the day went on. _That's what ya get, you traitor._

Katsuki learned his lesson though. _Insulting the hag's weight is a death wish, I sure as hell am not gonna do that again._ He may be stubborn, but he was no fool.

"OI KATSUKI!" His mom yelled from the front door. "THE HELL YOU WAITING FOR? WE'RE GONNA BE LATE."

" _Gosh darned hag_ …" He mumbled, making sure to lower his voice—lest she hear it. "I SAID I'M COMING!"

He waited for the last episode of an anime to download on his old and trusty USB, before he pulled it out of the television. _Good thing I recorded the episodes we both missed, they're not fun to watch alone._ He put the worn stick into his pocket and darted towards his impatient mother.

"I'm here! Can you stop shouting now?"

She looked him over, clearly unimpressed. "You're going while wearing _that_?" She gestured at his simple black T-shirt and brown cargo pants. "Where are the clothes I bought you yesterday?"

Katsuki shifted on his feet, he wasn't going to tell her he wasn't wearing them just to spite her, she sure as hell wouldn't appreciate that. "Uh, you didn't wash them. I'm not gonna wear unwashed clothes, that’s gross!"

He had to push down a shiver as her red eyes bore into him critically, until she finally relented with a defeated sigh. "Fair enough, should've washed them." She reached for the coat hanger and grabbed both of their jackets, she handed him his own. "It's going to be a little breezy today so I don't want to catch you without it."

He nodded as he put the jacket on and switched from his slippers to his sneakers. "Are they already home?" He asked.

She shook her head and grabbed her keys. "No, we should be arriving at the same time they do. Let's go."

After yelling at the still tired and sleepy father that they were leaving, they stepped out of the door towards the Midoriya house. It was a ten minute stroll from their house, they didn't live too far apart from eachother.

"By the way Katsuki." After about five minutes of walking Mitsuki finally broke the comfortable silence they found themselves in. "I know your hands don't need to be bandaged anymore, but you still need to be careful with your quirk." She sent him an accusatory stare. "No more imitating your dad's little party trick."

The boy was rather offended by this. "Why not? Last time was just a fluke, I can take it no-"

" _No_ Katsuki." She interrupted sternly, there was no playfullnes in her voice, she was serious now. "You just aren't ready for something like that, your dad can do it because he has developed more resistance to his own quirk and because his quirk isn't as destructive as yours."

She grabbed his hand and ran her slender fingers over the thin scars on his palm. "These are going to heal now, but you need to remember that you are still young and your quirk only developed a week ago. Your hands need to grow more resistant to their own explosions before you can safely push them to make bigger and hotter ones."

Mitsuki let go of his hand and peered at him from the corner of her eye, he had a large frown on his face, she could already guess what he was thinking. "Look at me kiddo." She sighed, Katsuki reluctantly looked her in the eyes, frown still present. "I'm not saying this because I want to bully you or something."

Katsuki would beg to differ, but ultimately stayed quiet, not finding it in himself to interrupt her while she sounded so sincere.

She continued. "Don't get me wrong; it's good to push yourself and to feel the drive to improve, but the tough truth is that people who don't know their own limits get themselves and other people hurt." Her voice turned slightly melancholic. "Wasn't this incident enough proof? I hate to say it, but because you pushed yourself past what you could take you and Izuku got hurt."

His eyes went a little wide and she ruffled his poofy hair that resembled hers so much. "You don't want a repeat of what happened that day do you?" He shook his head resolutely, earning a grin from the blonde mother. "Then do me a favor and don't get ahead of yourself kiddo, if you think something is too much for you or you can't handle something, just don't do it, or ask someone else for help." She winked. "Izuku's a great friend, he wouldn't hesitate to help you out."

She said nothing afterwards, content with letting her words sink in while they marched on. _Hopefully he'll learn from this, I don't want them to get hurt because of the same mistake._ To her credit, Katsuki really considered her words, they stuck with him and he thought about them long and hard until she eventually broke him out of his thoughts again.

"We're almost there." She said as they went around a corner.

And true to her words, about 10 meters (32ft) removed from them were the Midoriyas as they stepped out of Inko's car.

Katsuki's countenance changed from thoughtful to excited in an instant as he ran towards his friend, who was still getting out of the car. His mother groaned in annoyance at her son's hyperactivity but decided she'd let him off the leash this once, he seemed to be taking her words to heart and that was pretty rare for him. So she called out to her BFF instead.

"Yo Inko-chan! How ya doin'?"

Inko whipped her head towards them in surprise at seeing the Bakugous so soon after having barely arrived themselves. She helped Izuku out of the car, and Mitsuki's heart almost stopped when she saw him.

The squeal that followed could be heard through the entire neighbourhood. She locked on to the bespectacled boy and squashed him in a bear hug.

"OH MY GOD YOU LOOK SO CUTE WITH THOSE!"

Inko and Katsuki could only look on helplessly as Izuku was crushed by the latter's mother.

"A-aunt M-Mitsuki I c-can't Breat-th." Izuku uttered while he struggled to get air in his lungs.

She realized that she was holding him in a vice grip and let go, giving him a sheepish grin. "Sorry 'bout that kiddo, it's jus-" Mitsuki involuntarily paused as she looked him in the eyes.

 _She can see the difference too._ Inko thought. She hurried to change the topic. "Well you two are early! Let's go inside."

Mitsuki nodded mutely after another second of studying the green mop's foggier eyes. "R-right, let's go." She turned towards her friend and shot her a meaningful look, Inko understood and dipped her head in response.

Shaking his head at his mother's strange antics, Katsuki greeted his friend like a normal person. "Yo, you okay?"

Izuku, still panting for air turned to face the blonde, allowing Katsuki to properly see his face. "Y-yeah."

 _Oh, he really is wearing glasses._ Katsuki blinked as he took in the red frame sitting atop Izuku's nose.

A period of stillness passed. "D-do they look weird?" Izuku eventually asked, mistaking Katsuki's silence as distaste for his new look.

Katsuki understood that he was staring. "N-no not really, I'm just not used to seeing you with them. They don't really look bad or anything."

"I see…"

"C'MON KIDS WHAT ARE YOU WAITING OUTSIDE FOR?"

"W-we should probably go inside."

"Yeah..."

* * *

"So, what's with the glasses?" Katsuki asked.

They were now in Izuku's room, having finally been released from the torment that is having to sit with their mothers for a while.

"W-what do you mean?

Katsuki sat on the desk chair, turning it so he faced his friend who was sitting on his bed. "Your vision was perfectly fine two days ago." He stated.

"Was it?" Izuku chuckled weakly, his stutter vanishing. "I'm not even so sure myself anymore."

Katsuki mulled over that answer, it sounded almost self-deprecating. "I know for a fact you would've noticed if it had gone bad." He was starting to lose his patience. "So stop beating around the bush, just tell me already."

Izuku exhaled a long breath, taking off the glasses to look his friend in the eyes. "Because of the accident, my eyes became weaker, I need glasses now to see things that are far away."

Katsuki froze similarly to how his mother had, he hadn't noticed before because his glasses hid it, but his friend's eyes weren't the same sharp green he'd grown used to. Suddenly Katsuki was the one finding it difficult to look the other boy in the eyes as guilt overflooded him.

Izuku however—observant as ever, and loss of vision withstanding—instantly noticed the guilt ridden expression on his face and immediately put and end to it. "Stop that, it's not your fault. I don't regret doing it, so you shouldn't feel guilty for me either."

"But-" Katsuki stammered.

"Besides." Izuku continued, preparing himself for what he was about to say as he stored his glasses away in their case. "It's because of that accident that I developed my… my quirk."

Guilt was replaced by bewilderment, Katsuki jumped out of the chair. "Y-your quirk developed?! That- that's awesome!"

Izuku grinned, Katsuki in his excitement didn't notice that it did not reach his eyes at all. "I know right? The doctor told me after you left the hospital."

"Damn! I wish my mom let me stay." Katsuki lamented briefly, before he hopped on the bed next to the boy. "What is it? Fire breathing like your dad? Telekinesis like your mom? Both?"

 _Here comes the hard part…_ Telling Katsuki he had a quirk was already hard enough, having to explain _what_ it was would be much harder for the skittish boy. For the fraction of a second he considered excluding some of the information about his quirk, but he discarded the idea as soon as it appeared. _I decided I was gonna be honest. I have to stick with it._

"It's neither." Katsuki's confused stare forced him to elaborate. "The doctor said it's a mutation or something, it's rare but it means that my quirk doesn't resemble that of my parents."

"Okay? What is it then?" He didn't fully understand what that meant, but ignored it for now in favor of learning what his quirk was.

"It's a…" Izuku struggled for the best way to phrase the description. "It's basically a mutant type that increases my senses, my strength, and my regeneration."

"Huh. Is that how you managed to hear what Kanou and I said even though you normally shouldn't have?"

Izuku nodded tersely. "It's also what allowed me to survive, it healed my head injury." His shoulders sagged. "Though it wasn't capable of fully healing my eyes."

He realized he brought the mood down considerably with that statement, so he decided he'd finish it up before he said more stupid things. "There's a drawback though…"

Katsuki frowned. "Really? Is it bad?"

Izuku could feel his heart beat against his ribcage. "I-I mean, k-kinda?" He took one last ragged breath before continuing. "It doesn't allow me to eat… unless I drink a glass of blood. It's called Ghoul."

Now the boy held his breath as a silence fell upon them. Countless theories and predictions on how Katsuki would react negatively ran through his mind.

"Is that it?"

_What?_

"H-huh?" Izuku did not compute.

Katsuki gave him a weird stare. "I said, _is that it_?"

"Did you misunderstand? You heard what I said right?" The young ghoul was confused beyond belief.

The explosive boy's irritation was only growing though. "Of course I did, I'm not deaf, you said you needed a bit of blood to survive."

Disbelief was the only thing Izuku could feel, he was almost in denial. "I need to drink _blood_ Katsuki, human _blood._ "

"So? Big deal."

"It- it's villainous to drink blood!"

"Not if you only need a little to _survive_ you idiot." He deadpanned at his friend's insistence on convincing him it was evil. "It's not like you _want_ to drink it right?"

He received a reluctant shake of the head, though Izuku didn’t look him in the eyes as he did.

"That proves it then. Villains only want blood because they like it and they want a lot of it. You aren't like them, you dislike blood but need it. Just like how mom forces me to eat sweet potatoes when it tastes like crap."

Katsuki's reasoning was biased, but not nonsensical, and Izuku didn't have it in him to correct his assumption that blood tasted gross for him and that he only drank it because he had needed it to survive. He was already reeling from the fact Katsuki was so accepting of his quirk's side effect that he didn't want to risk jinxing it.

"Then it's settled, it's not villainous, in your case at least ."

The ghoul did his best to keep himself from crying, but failed miserably. Crimson tears rolled down his cheek, to Katsuki's absolute fright.

"IZUKU ARE YOU OKAY? YOUR EYES ARE BLEEDING WHATTHEHELL?!"

He got off the bed and frantically looked around for bandaids, bandages— _a_ _nything_ to keep his friend from bleeding his eyes out.

This only earned him gurgled chuckles, courtesy of the emotional boy that was now wiping his tears away with his sleeve happily. "I’m- pff.” He stifled another chuckle. “I’m fine Kacchan, my quirk makes it so my tears are red for some reason."

He laughed even harder when he took in the blond's disgruntled glare. "It- it's-" He wheezed. "It's not actual blood, don't-don't worry."

After a few minutes of trying and failing to hold back his laughter, he finally calmed down, now with a grave expression on his face. "I'm… really happy that you don't care Kacchan, but I'm afraid that other people will."

Katsuki grudgingly had to admit that was true. "The dumb extras won't be able to look past it if they find out." He liked the way 'extra' rolled off his tongue, he should use it more.

"We can't judge them for it Kacchan, they don't know me as well as you do so they won't be as accepting." It hurt, but he would have to live with it if it someone were to find out somehow.

After thinking it over for a while, Katsuki lied down parallel to his friend. "You aren't gonna _outright_ tell them about it in your showcase are you? You're not _that_ stupid."

"Of course not." He took the mild insult in stride. "Mom already called them about it, I don't need to tell them that I need blood."

"Hn." Katsuki hummed in response. "That's good then."

They just sat there for a while, both processing the new developments they learned as they relaxed on the soft bed.

"By the way Kacchan?"

"What's up?"

Izuku shifted slightly, holding back on saying 'the ceiling'. "Can you teach me how to activate my quirk?"

"What?" He looked at him dubiously. "What's there to activate? You said you have a mutant quirk right?"

 _Huh, I guess that's true. Most mutant type quirks don't really have to 'activate' anything. Odd._ "Well there's this thing is can do with my eyes, I can change them and then I can see and sense things better. I think it also makes me a little stronger."

"You sure you weren't just imagining it?"

Izuku groaned. "No Kacchan, I saw it in the mirror, my mom saw it too and so did the doctor. It _happened_."

"Fine fine, the great Katsuki shall teach you." He declared as pompously as he could, earning him another groan from Izuku.

They quickly relocated onto the playing mat on the ground and sat on their knees, facing eachother.

"Okay, so how I use my quirk is that I just imagine… pushing something out of my hand. Kinda like straining it a little." As an example he created a small explosion in the center of his palm, careful to not overdo it like his mother had said. "It was pretty draining and hard to do at first, but I basically got the hang of it now."

"I see… what does it feel like when you use your quirk?"

"Hmm." He absently let some more explosions loose in his palms while he considered the question, Izuku looked at them in awe. _He said it was difficult at first, yet his hands are basically firecrackers now._ "It's a tingly feeling, sometimes I can feel explosions bubble up even while I'm not actively trying to make any, happens when I get angry."

"So that happens often." Izuku stated jokingly.

Katsuki did his best to sound offended but couldn't repress his grin. "You wanna learn how or not?"

"Fine, so pushing it…" He tried closing his eyes and straining them in hopes of feeling the tingling sensation Katsuki was talking about, but felt nothing except the uncomfortable feeling of tensing his eyes. "I don't feel anything."

"Really? Maybe you're going about it the wrong way?" The blonde cupped his chin. "You could try remembering what it felt like when you had them activated, and try to get to that feeling again."

"I guess I can try?" He was unsure if it would work, but he had to attempt it.

 _How my eyes felt… it was a bit of a humming feeling, really comfortable but alert at the same time?_ He closed his eyes. _When I awakened them the first time I think it felt like flipping a switch or something…_ He tried searching for anything that might be related to that, until he suddenly felt something like a tug in his left eye. _Wait! That's it!_

He opened his eyes, only to find his sight hadn't really changed much. Katsuki seemed fascinated by something however. "I guess I failed, I thought I had it too."

Katsuki looked at him as if he was stupid. "What are you talking about? Your left eye is all different."

"W-what?" Izuku spun towards his desk and grabbed a small mirror out of one of his drawers, and looked into it promptly.

"Oh, wow" He muttered as he regarded his changed left eye with stupefaction. "That's not supposed to happen."

"It's not? You said your eye could change, didn't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah but they're _both_ supposed to change, not just one. It's supposed to like, boost my vision a bunch, this is barely better than without my glasses."

Katsuki tilted his head. "I don't see the problem, just turn on the other one as well, easy fix."

Izuku felt rather stupid. "Yeah, right…"

He closed his eyes again and channeled the feeling he had in his left eye to his right.

It took a while, but he finally managed to feel the same click in his right eye. "Did it!

He opened them and felt the familiar sharpness in his eyes, it was relieving to go back to this. His glasses were nice but they couldn't beat the strength of his quirk.

"That's… really cool." Katsuki viewed his friend's transformed eyes with awe. "You said your senses grow stronger when you're like this?"

"Yeah, I only found out that it increased _all_ my senses when it went away yesterday. It's kinda like how Groku absorbed super sayan deity into his base form, his base became stronger but his super sayan form as well."

Katsuki nodded along while his friend explained in a way only few people would understand. "So your quirk increased your overall senses while your're normal, and increases them even more when your eyes are like this. What about when you had it in only one eye?"

"Let me try…" He willed his right away to turn back to normal again, and opened his eyes again. Taking in his surroundings with half the amount of crimson eyes. "I think it's kinda like a halfway point, my sight hasn't improved all that much, but I think it improves all other things slightly. It's better than base at the very least."

"So you could consider this super sayan 1 and with two eyes super sayan 2."

Izuku put the mirror back in his drawer. "Yeah I think, though I'm not sure about whether or not there's a difference in energy consumption. I'll need to use them more to know for a fact."

Katsuki paused for a second. "Wait, maybe we should compare it more to the shraningan?"

Izuku sweat-dropped. "I think we've compared it to enough anime for now, It's getting a little confusing." He sighed and closed his eyes again, allowing both to turn crimson. _This is most definitely more comfortable, although a little draining._ He opened them again.

He watched his friend ramble on about 'mangrekyo shraningans' until he suddenly remembered all the people that had been sending him uncomfortable looks after seeing him with his transformed eyes. 

"K-kacchan, is it okay with you if I keep my eyes like this?"

Katsuki broke out of the debate with himself to eye his friend questioningly. "What's that even supposed to mean?"

He fidgeted with his clothes. "Do they not make you… uncomfortable?"

Katsuki observed his friend's nervous frame, he was avoiding eye contact again. "What brought this on? And look at me normally."

With reluctance, he did. "It's just… when mom and I were waiting in the waiting room a lot of people were looking at me weird. And I met this nurse that also seemed uncomfortable when she saw my eyes."

Katsuki scoffed. "That's just stupid."

For some reason Izuku shrunk into himself even more. "Y-yeah, I guess it is. Sorry for bringing it u-"

"No!" Katsuki facepalmed at his own poor choice of words. "I don't mean you, idiot. I meant that those people are stupid for getting intimidated by a kid who just happens to have cool eyes, it's lame, they should grow a spine."

Izuku stopped fidgeting and looked him properly in the eye again. "You think they're cool?"

Katsuki sighed, as if tired. "Izuku, how insecure are you gonna be about yourself? Be more confident in your quirk, it's much better than everyone's in our class." He puffed his chest. "Except for me though, mine beats yours by a landslide."

 _He's right, maybe I should be a little more confident. But that's easier said than done._ "Thanks Kacchan, but we'll have to see about that." He grinned, confidence resurfacing.

"Hoho? Is that a challenge?" A matching, confident smirk tugged at his lips.

"Not really, but I know you have the USB stick in your pocket, so I challenge you to an anime binge!" He got up, cheerfully ignoring Katsuki's perplexed countenance. The blonde scrambled to stand and follow, multiple questions on his mind.

"How could you tell?"

Izuku didn't bother turning back as he marched towards the door. "You really wanna know?"

"Yeah." He was curious.

"You remember that time you somehow 'accidentally' dropped it's cover cap in the porta potty when you tried watching something while pooping at the same time?" Katsuki reluctantly shook his head in the affirmative, cringing badly at his stupidity back then.

"Well." He faced him, hand pinching his nose while his crimson pupils somehow became disproportionate to eachother, it made him look extremely goofy. "I could smell crap, so it was either that you pooped your pants or you had the USB. I was honestly hoping it was the first."

* * *

Darkness was all he could see, it encompassed his entire being.

But he found that he was not afraid, because in the darkness one can hide, hide from the world, hide from the light, even hide from themselves. He may not have been born in it, but it took him in when he most needed it.

"….….…"

When one loses themself all that they can turn to is darkness after all.

"…i…r….….e."

Darkness is enabling, it allows us to be ourselves. While the light limits us, forcing us to masquerade with the fake morals and laws those above us enforce. If they find you to be unwanted, you are tossed into the darkness, left there to be hunted by those who believe spreading light is the correct thing to do.

"….i..s..….i…..….r…..e"

But he wasn't sure, why would those in the light continue to force themselves to bend to the light's whims? Surely it must not be pleasant, that's why he preferred the dark. He was free there, free to do what he wanted. He loved the freedom, the _power_.

"….i…s...a….i..….o…..r..e!"

Then again, what did _he_ know? He didn't really know much of anything at all. But when he racked his brain real hard, he found _one_ thing he _did_ know.

"…i..…s…a..i…k..o…r…n…e!"

After all, how could he forget it when it was beaten into him since his birth? Yes, it would be rather silly to forget.

So he would never forget, that in exchange for the limitless freedom, darkness is a slow, but insidious killer.

"Misaki Korone! Wake up!"

How peculiar

It seems he now knows his own name as well.

He couldn't help but crack a smile.

**The more you know.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time skip incoming next chapter! You can consider these chapters a prologue of sorts, to set up stuff and for some world building and explanation, while the next chapter will be a bit of a transition from kids to teens. 
> 
> This is also where we enter what I’d like to call the ‘Aldera arc’, where you get to see how Izuku and Katsuki are holding up after the years. Look forward to it!


End file.
